Germany: the extreme right under tension

While preparing for the upcoming elections in 2019, the AfD party is experiencing its first difficulties.

In a deleterious climate, nearly 600 delegates of the main far-right party in Germany, Alternative for Germany (AfD), will meet in Riesa, a small town in Saxony, this Friday, January 11 and for four days. In principle, the meeting aims to prepare the campaign for the European elections next May. However, participants may have a mind elsewhere. Because the pressure is rising, these days, against the AfD. And she hurts.

For a month, nearly a dozen attacks against AfD offices have been identified by the police. Other attacks are more personal. On 7 January, Frank Magnitz, a 66-year-old national deputy and party leader in Bremen, was beaten and seriously wounded by three individuals. All German politicians, starting with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Franck-Walter Steinmeier, strongly condemned the aggression. In all these cases, which do not seem related, the local police suspect political motivation.

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