German police said in a statement that the young man went to authorities in Dresden, in eastern Germany, and claimed to be “the attacker who hit the SPD politician”, the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The attack on MEP Matthias Ecke occurred on Friday night in Dresden, when he was alone putting up posters at the start of the electoral campaign for the European elections, scheduled for June 9th.
The MEP, who heads the SPD list in the Saxony region for the European elections, is not the first to target German politicians in recent months, raising warnings about the possibility of a politically motivated crime.
According to regional police, the 41-year-old MEP was beaten by four unidentified men while posting posters, and was forced to “receive medical treatment in hospital”, adds the statement cited by the French news agency, France-Presse (AFP ).
Several German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, condemned the violent attack.
On Thursday night, two deputies elected by the Greens, the party that governs with the SPD, were attacked in Essen, in western Germany, with one of them being hit in the face, according to police.
The SPD in the state of Saxony is reinforcing security measures preventing its members from carrying out campaign actions alone from now on. They should always be in groups of four or five to be able to react to potential attacks. Furthermore, the police will be informed in advance about the posting of posters.
Tags: Teenager turns German authorities attacking SPD MEP News
