Kretschmer on the escalation of violence: It's five to twelve

Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has condemned the growing aggression and increasing violence within society. "These are enemies of democracy (...) It really is five to twelve," he said on the ARD program "Caren Miosga" on Sunday evening. It was important to put a stop to this. We still have the power to change things. But there is a new quality. This must not go unchallenged. Right-wing populists would incite the population. Kretschmer also saw the AfD as being responsible. The intellectual arsonists had entered the Bundestag in 2017. Since then, people like him have been portrayed as "traitors to the people" and the EU as a "madhouse".

The brutal attack on Dresden SPD European politician Matthias Ecke, which caused horror across Germany, is the background to this. Ecke was attacked and beaten up by four men in Dresden on Friday evening while putting up election posters and was operated on in hospital on Sunday. Around 3,000 people gathered in Dresden on Sunday afternoon, including Bundestag Vice President Katrin-Göring-Eckardt (Greens) and SPD Federal Chairwoman Saskia Esken. In Berlin, around 1000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate.