The deed perfectly timed - for the right-wing extremists
The extreme right Acts of terrorism in Germany play into the hands of right-wing extremists
Wolfgang Hansson
This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.
Published 19.43
For far-right and anti-immigrant parties, the terrorist act in Solingen came with perfect timing.
A rejected Syrian asylum seeker randomly kills three people.
On Sunday, there are state elections in eastern Germany. The act risks increasing the already expected great success of the extreme parties.
Quick version
In early June, I visited a right-wing demonstration in the state of Thuringia in eastern Germany. It was shortly after an Afghan man who had his asylum application rejected murdered a police officer in Mannheim, outside Frankfurt.
The murder was the main topic of the speakers' outraged demands that asylum immigration to Germany must be stopped.
The audience responded with choruses of "Raus, raus". Out with them.
Memorial site after the crime in Solingen. Photo: Federico Gambarini / AP
The terrible attack in Solingen last weekend arouses similar feelings among many Germans, especially in the eastern parts of the country, where unregulated immigration is seen as the country's worst problem.
A Syrian asylum seeker who was not granted permission to stay went with a knife to attack people attending a festival in the northern German city. He stabbed the unsuspecting victims in the throat. Three of them were killed instantly, eight were injured. He himself first managed to escape in the commotion, but then voluntarily reported himself to the police.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the act, but it is unclear whether the man acted on direct orders from the terror group.
He should actually have been deported to Bulgaria more than six months ago to have his asylum application tried there, but the deportation was never carried out.
Even earlier, opinion polls pointed to AfD's potential to become the largest party in Thuringia and Saxony. Photo: Stefan Jerrevång
Left-wing populist
A fact that the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, uses in its election rallies to attract votes from disaffected and fearful Germans in the states of Thuringia and Saxony, where local parliament elections are held on Sunday.
Even earlier, opinion polls indicated that AfD could become the largest party in both states. This despite the fact that the German security service has classified this particular branch of the AfD as a far-right security risk.
The crime in Solingen risks further increasing the party's vote harvest.
Not just theirs by the way.
BSW with the well-known left-wing populist Sarah Wagenknecht as party leader is also trying to ride the wave critical of immigration. Despite the fact that the party is far to the left on certain issues, it tries to attract voters from the AfD through an almost equally critical line on immigration.
Olaf Scholz is trying to reduce the damage by promising tougher gun laws and faster deportations. Photo: Justin Tallis / AP
Even on the Ukraine issue, the AfD and Wagenknecht are on the same side when they demand that Germany's support for Ukraine must be reduced and that peace negotiations begin with Vladimir Putin.
But other parties also realize the explosive power of the immigration issue. The leader of the conservative CDU wants to deport rejected asylum seekers to Syria and Afghanistan despite the uncertain situation in these countries. Merkel's successor, Friedrich Merz, is also demanding that all refugees who have been granted asylum but return to their home countries on holiday be immediately stripped of their residence permits.
Safety valve
Chancellor Olaf Scholz realizes that an act of this kind committed shortly before an election can hit him and other people in power hard. He is trying to mitigate the damage by promising tougher gun laws and faster deportations of rejected asylum seekers.
But since he has made similar promises in the past without anything happening, it is doubtful whether it will be enough to prevent victory for the AfD in the local elections.
How important the elections are is underlined by the fact that the Chancellor personally participates in the election campaign, even though it is not until next year that elections are held for the Bundestag, the German parliament.
Scholz is not the only one who fears that success in the eastern states will help the AfD to a record national election next year.
So far, there is a safety valve against the AfD being allowed to participate and govern locally or at the national level. All other parties stick to the position of having no cooperation whatsoever with the AfD.
But it also makes it much more difficult to form coalitions locally. The states must be governed in some way.
One would think that Germany with its Nazi history would have extra protection against right-wing extremism, but that no longer seems to be the case.
The lesson learned from Sweden and a number of other countries in Europe is that in the long run it is impossible to keep a party that gets 20-30 percent of the votes out of influence.
In the end, the temptation to gain power by allying with the extreme right becomes too great.
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