{"id":1486697,"date":"2024-08-29T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1486697"},"modified":"2024-08-29T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T14:30:00","slug":"support-for-afd-surges-in-germany-after-knife-attack-leaves-3-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/support-for-afd-surges-in-germany-after-knife-attack-leaves-3-dead\/1486697\/","title":{"rendered":"Support For AfD Surges In Germany After Knife Attack Leaves 3 Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Support For AfD Surges In Germany After Knife Attack Leaves 3 Dead<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In the wake of three fatal stabbings by a Syrian immigrant whose asylum was denied, the anti-immigration AfD may win three state elections in September.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Knife Attack<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NPR reports\u00a0Man claiming to be behind Solingen knife attack turns himself in, German police say<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 26-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker turned himself in to police, saying he was responsible for the Solingen knife attack that left three dead and eight wounded at a festival marking the city\u2019s 650th anniversary, German authorities announced early Sunday.<\/p>\n

On Saturday the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence. The extremist group said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and that he carried out the assaults Friday night \u201cto avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.\u201d The claim couldn\u2019t be independently verified.<\/p>\n

The attack comes amid debate over immigration ahead of regional elections next Sunday in Germany\u2019s Saxony and Thueringia regions where anti-immigration parties such as the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to do well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Reuters, Thuringia and Saxony vote on Sept. 1 and Brandenburg follows on Sept. 22. Combined, the three states have around 8.5 million inhabitants and account for 10% of Germany\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

The far-right AfD is expected to emerge as the strongest party in these elections. It may be difficult or impossible for an anti-AfD coalition to suppress AfD.<\/p>\n

AfD Crowds Cheer Nation\u2019s Most Feared Politician<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Guardian reports\u00a0AfD Crowds Cheer Nation\u2019s Most Feared Politician<\/a><\/p>\n

Three eastern German states hold elections next month and, by a quirk of the calendar, the regions up for grabs are among those with the most supporters of the far-right Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland. If the polls are accurate, the AfD could wind up the strongest party in all three, a year before the planned date of Germany\u2019s next general election. Depending on who you ask, it would be a political earthquake, a catastrophe or a wake-up call for the country.<\/p>\n

The strength of the AfD and a new populist upstart, the \u201cleftwing conservative\u201d B\u00fcndnis Sahra Wagenknecht (Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance), underlines dovetailing trends in Europe\u2019s top economy: mounting frustration with incumbents, anxiety about Germany\u2019s military support for Ukraine and festering divisions between east and west more than three decades after reunification.<\/p>\n

H\u00f6cke, 52, co-heads the state chapter of the AfD in Thuringia, which will vote on 1 September along with Saxony. The AfD, polling at about 30%, has been classed as \u201cconfirmed rightwing extremist\u201d by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the domestic security watchdog, in both states. Brandenburg, the largely rural state surrounding Berlin, will hold its election on 22 September. Its AfD chapter is listed as \u201csuspected rightwing extremist\u201d.<\/p>\n

Government Future in Danger<\/strong><\/h2>\n

DW reports\u00a0German Government\u2019s Future in Danger in Regional Elections<\/a><\/p>\n

Though eastern Germany is often seen as a homogenous region, there are major political differences among the states. While Thuringia has been governed for the last decade by the socialist Left Party under State Premier Bodo Ramelow, Saxony has been led by Michael Kretschmer of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2017.<\/p>\n

In both states, the only possible coalitions that keep the AfD out of government (and all the other parties have promised to do that) appear to be an uncomfortable alliance between the CDU and Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). It would be bizarre partnership: The former is a centrist party that likes to present itself as a rock of stability, tradition, and conservatism, the latter an upstart outfit less than a year old run by a former communist with a gift for populist rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\u201cSahra Wagenknecht is a cult figure in eastern Germany. She leads the party autocratically, and she is a focus of the yearning for authority and leadership in the east,\u201d as Vorl\u00e4nder puts it.<\/p>\n

An alliance with the BSW, which is polling at nearly 20% in Thuringia and over 10% in Saxony, is likely to be difficult to digest for some in the CDU. Apart from the fact that Wagenknecht was once a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the communist East German dictatorship, she is already making demands that will be difficult for the CDU to accept. For instance, that it should declare itself against the stationing of US medium-range ballistic missiles in Germany.<\/p>\n

And though the BSW has consistently distanced itself from the far-right AfD and ruled out any cooperation, one fact looms uncomfortably over this election: The two parties have more in common than sets them apart.<\/p>\n

All this leaves Scholz\u2019s SPD in a desperate situation, especially because another eastern German state, Brandenburg, will hold an election three weeks later. Here, too, the AfD is leading the polls, with the SPD and CDU vying for second place.<\/p>\n

Yet in some ways, it is Scholz\u2019s coalition partners that have the most to fear from these three elections. The Green Party, currently in government in all three states, is likely to lose that influence, while the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) are facing annihilation in the East \u2014 probably as punishment for hitching their wagon to the Scholz train. That does not bode well for Scholz\u2019s already fractious coalition.<\/p>\n

SPD on the Brink of Extinction<\/strong><\/h2>\n

SPD is hovering around 5 percent in opinion polls in both Saxony and Thuringia.<\/p>\n

That is the threshold to have any representation in Government.<\/p>\n

Saxony Polls<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Die Linke (the Left), the Greens, SPD, and FDP are all on the 5 percent boot threshold.<\/p>\n

They all deserve the boot. But that does not imply cheering for any of them.<\/p>\n

Thuringia Polls<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Die Linke is much stronger in Thuringia than Saxony.<\/p>\n

Brandenburg Polls<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Be prepared to kiss FDP goodbye in a clean sweep.<\/p>\n

The Greens appear to go up in flames in Thuringia and hopefully across the board.<\/p>\n

The more parties that get booted, the harder it will be to form any coalitions.<\/p>\n

It will be impossible to exclude both AfD and BSW. Both are anti-immigration, pro-Russia.<\/p>\n

National Elections<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The next\u00a0national election<\/a>\u00a0has been set for Sept. 28, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he will run for a second term, but support for his SPD party has collapsed.<\/p>\n

The famed traffic light coalition is unworkable with combined support down to 48.5 percent with FDP on the bubble. FDP deserves to get booted for agreeing to join the current coalition mess.<\/p>\n

Anyone for another failed \u201cGrand Coalition\u201d between CDU\/CSU and SPD?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 08\/29\/2024 – 06:30<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/support-afd-surges-germany-after-knife-attack-leaves-3-dead<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Support For AfD Surges In Germany After Knife Attack Leaves 3 Dead Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com, In the wake of three fatal stabbings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1486698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1486697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1486698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}