The killing of a police officer in Mannheim has heated up the immigration debate in Germany ahead of European elections International

The killing of 29-year-old police officer Reuven El during a knife attack in Mannheim last week has sparked a heated debate about security, immigration and Islamism in Germany just days before the European elections. The agent died on Sunday from a wound to the back of the head he suffered last Friday at the hands of a 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan who came to Germany in 2014.

The incident has brought the debate on Islamic extremism and the deportation of immigrants who commit crimes into the public spotlight at an extremely sensitive political moment, which could benefit the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The party has made the immigration debate practically its only campaign issue, trying to turn the elections in Germany on the 9th into a kind of referendum on the immigration policy of the coalition government led by the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, and also of the European Union.

In the ranks of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, more and more voices are being heard demanding tough measures against Islamism and warning about “false tolerance”. “If the obvious suspicion that this is indeed an Islamist act is confirmed, it will be time to have an honest debate about the dangers of Islamism, without naivety, without blindness, without double standards,” wrote Baden Finance Minister Daniel Bayaz, also of the Greens, in his X account.

“Mass deportation”

Expressions that are usually heard more from the mouths of conservative politicians, such as the need for “mass deportations”, have been in the news again after the Bundestag gave the green light at the beginning of the year to a law that theoretically facilitates them. The opposition accused Scholz’s executive of not putting it into practice.

This Tuesday, another attack took place in the same town, this time against a local AfD politician, who was injured with a sharp object, apparently a cutter. The attacker was arrested and transferred to a psychiatric hospital and police reported that he showed clear signs of a mental disorder. The party has tried to present the attack as part of a campaign by left-wing extremists against members of the AfD, but police say there is no indication that the detainee knew he was attacking a politician from this organisation.

The interior minister, Social Democrat Nancy Fesser, defends herself against criticism, including her alleged inaction in the face of demonstrations such as those of the Muslim Interactive movement, whose supporters marched in Hamburg praising the caliphate. They also blame the minister for not closing the Islamic Center of Hamburg, which they claim is controlled by Iran. However, Fesser responded that it is her government that has approved “a comprehensive legislative package in favor of faster and more frequent deportations” and has toughened laws to expel offenders, “especially on the Islamist spectrum,” she said Tuesday at a press conference.

Days before the election, in which the extreme right is expected to rise, the government of Social Democrats, Greens and liberals is also studying how to find a way to resume deportations to Syria and Afghanistan, especially in the case of criminals and “people who are dangerous,” Fesser announced. It is a controversial decision, as Germany does not repatriate citizens from countries where their lives are in danger. Berlin completely halted deportations to Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in 2021.

The man identified by German media as Suleiman Ataei, who attacked participants of a rally of the far-right and anti-Islam organization Pax Europa last Friday with a knife, comes from Afghanistan. Investigators believe the target of the attacker, who came to Germany in 2014 and has two children, was Michael Sturzenberger, known for his calls to combat political Islam. The activist was hit in the face and chest, but his injuries were not serious. The deceased police officer was trying to calm down on the ground when, in the confusion of the moment, he believed that he was the attacker, when Ataei attacked him and stabbed him several times in the back, as can be seen in a video circulated on social networks.

In this climate of confrontation, some top-level politicians, such as the Foreign Minister, the Green Annalena Baerbock, warn about the heated immigration debate. Namely, she assured in X, “the aim of the extremists”, that what they want is to “split”. Instead, the President of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Christian Democrat Hendrik Wüst, has said to call a spade a spade. “It was a murder, apparently for religious reasons. An act of terror. If people do not want to recognize and accept this, any attempt to solve it will fail, ”he is quoted as saying. Frankfurter Allgemeine,

The latest surveys ahead of the European elections show that Germans are concerned about immigration and the integration of settlers in the country. In a public television Deutschlandtrend survey published in May, respondents named refugees and asylum policy as Europe’s main problem. 41% of them mention this, far ahead of the 34% who describe international conflicts and threats as such and the 21% who believe that the main concern is climate change.

The AfD has tried to capitalise on this opinion by presenting itself as the only party to oppose violence and blaming violent acts on immigrants. It is too early to know what effect the Mannheim attack might have on the ultras party’s voting intention expectations, says Peter Matuschek, a researcher at the Forsa Opinion Institute. He points out that as of last week, voting percentage in surveys was still around 14%.

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