MEP Ecke, German candidate in the European elections for the SPD, beaten up in Dresden

Brussels – An “attack on the foundations of our democracy.” That is how the Social Democrats in Germany called the attack Friday evening (May 3) of the outgoing MEP and leading SPD candidate in the German state of Saxony, Matthias Ecke, as he was putting up election posters in Dresden. “This is an unequivocal warning sign for all citizens of this country,” reads the statement released by the party in the aftermath of the beating.

Ecke “is seriously injured and needs surgery” after the beating, according to the SPD.  Police explained to the press that the 41-year-old politician was assaulted and kicked by four men, the same men who shortly before allegedly beat up on the same street a Green Party volunteer who was also putting up election posters for his party.

 “The violent behavior and intimidation of democrats is a tool of the fascists. We must call a spade a spade,” the SPD said, recalling how — with the election campaign having barely begun a week ago — “we are already observing and experiencing levels of attacks that are not even remotely acceptable under any circumstances.” The reference is to a figure provided by the Saxony Ministry of the Interior, according to which, in the first week of campaigning for the June European elections, 51 politically motivated crimes were reported to the police, while since the beginning of the year, a total of 112 crimes–of which 30 were against officials or elected officials–have been reported in connection with local and European elections in the federal state of Germany.

“Dismayed by the vicious attack on MEP Ecke in Dresden,” the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on X in German, strongly urging “to bring to justice those responsible.” European Commission President and Spitzenkandidatin of the European People’s Party (EPP), Ursula von der Leyen, also condemned the attack, adding that she was “deeply affected” by the beating of the politician from the rival party to her Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CHDU): “The perpetrators must be held to account. Our democracy is at stake.”