German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s harsher response to the deadly knife attack by an Afghan man in southern Germany on Wednesday, the 22nd of January, marks a clear change in his rhetoric on migration ahead of the national elections on the 23rd of February, reports Politico.
Two people, including a two-year-old boy of Moroccan origin, were killed in the attack on a group of pre-school children, shocking Germans at a time when migration has become one of the key issues ahead of the elections.
“I am tired of these violent crimes that happen every few weeks, committed by people who have come to us seeking protection,” the Chancellor said. “Misguided tolerance has no place here.”
According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann, the suspect is a 28-year-old Afghan man who arrived in Germany at the end of 2022 and subsequently claimed asylum. According to Hermann, the suspect had previously been treated in a psychiatric institution and authorities suspect that mental illness played a role in the attack.
The suspect announced his intention to leave Germany in December 2024 but remained in the country. The authorities say there is no evidence of political motivation.
Scholz called for an urgent investigation into the case, asking why the suspect stayed in Germany and that once the facts are established “there must be immediate consequences – enough talk”.
The Chancellor’s unusually harsh words came at a time when his opponents in the election campaign attacked him over his government’s migration policy. Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), also wasted no time in attacking the conservative Christian Social Union (SPD) party, which governs Bavaria.
“Remigration now!” Weidel wrote in a post on X, using a far-right euphemism for mass deportations. One of the AfD’s main election slogans is that crime is linked to migration and that traditional parties are incapable of ensuring public safety.
It is not only the AfD that relies on public discontent with migration. Friedrich Merz, the conservative chancellor candidate of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also promises to reduce migration and increase security.
The conservatives are leading in the polls with 30%, while the AfD is second with 21%.
Scholz’s tone after Wednesday’s attack marks a sharp shift in his response to violent incidents. After the August 2024 attack in Solingen by a Syrian asylum seeker with Islamist motives, he had focused on solutions such as stricter gun laws.
In December, reacting to the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg that killed six people, Scholz called for unity to “prevent hatred from dividing us”.
According to Hermann, a 41-year-old man was also killed in the attack on Wednesday. Authorities assume that the man was a passer-by trying to protect the children.
“There is speculation at the moment about his apparent mental illness,” Hermann said of the attacker.