Local politicians in Germany — insulted, threatened, and attacked | DW News

incendiary devices targeting the home of a politician first at his car then at his front door for M Miller a local Social Democrat politician everything has changed since then suddenly every sound every movement can also mean Danger on the day of the attack Mah was not at home but had guests a family with two children an expert was here to take another look at it entrance of the house was set on fire also a tire under the fuel tank of the car and there was a light on in the house someone was sup

posed to be killed and that in practice puts it into the category of attempted murder now a special commission is investigating just a few days earlier M Miller had called for a demonstration against rightwing extremism in his hometown of vas hous in turingia he doesn't believe in coincidences first of all it was very suspicious or was it a very strange coincidence that same night the office Windows of three SPD politicians here in Thia were also smashed and all in one night that would have been

quite a coincidence M Miller doesn't want to be afraid but it's hard local politicians like him are well known in the area in Vitas Howen a lot of people know where he lives and which car he drives the question quickly arises is public service worth of fear is it worth sacrificing my free time for this society which threatens me in return that could mean there will be fewer and fewer people who give up their time and service in local government on City and Municipal councils as honorary Mayors

or something like that what do politicians experience in Germany are they still safe henria Rica the mayor of cologne narrowly escaped death in 2015 one day before the election a right-wing extremist stepped her in the neck Andreas hin mayor of the city of ala was also stepped in the neck by an anti-refugee as salent in 2017 in 2020 shots were fired at the constituency office of SPD member of the bundestag kamba diabi 2019 saw the worst incident the casa District president V lupka was murdered b

y a right-wing extremist according to a survey more than half of Germany's Mayors have been insulted threatened or physically attacked 19% of Mayors have considered retiring from politics out of concern for their own safety or that of their families we K shatz is the mayor of the Eastern German city of tosen even during the election campaign she experienced a lot of [Music] hatred well during my election campaign we had a very extreme atmosphere in the city of Ts for example we had faced the que

stion of whether the new mayor would islamize the city of tsen because my husband is of Turkish origin what is still very difficult I can also see is the political atmosphere which is slanderous threats insults physical attacks the almost 12,000 Mayors in Germany usually face the frustration with government from citizens first if you're at the point where you cancel events if you're at the point where you feel like you're being followed by a mob that you can no longer freely communicate your own

opinion in public then democracy doesn't work anymore and that's where we are right now in my opinion many local politicians are therefore thinking about withdrawing from politics bip shahin Schatz has been warning of the consequences for years she talked about it with the German president and initiated the strong and office initiative with others and that's a really big challenge because we're noticing that even now especially when it comes to local elections right-wing parties right-wing orie

nted people are being put forward and you see very little efforts from the rest of society in getting involved in doing local politics and if there's simply no one solid on the ballot who should the voters vote for the mayor of tosson wants more people to get involved in politics again and not have to be afraid in the meantime many politicians have been alarmed starting in the summer of 2024 there will be a Nationwide contact point for threatened local politicians Marcus Kuba is helping to prepa

re why is there a need for a contact point for threatened local politicians from conversations in the past we have heard that those affected often do not know whether to take it to the local police or if perhaps it's something for a special contact point in the country is it the public prosecutor's office or is it a civil society service we would like to support and give guidance why do many of those threatened not file complaints I hear again and again that many local politicians don't do this

because they may have done it in the past and then nothing happened or they didn't get any feedback that there would be a meaningful response or action taken nevertheless it would be very very important in order to get a more accurate picture of the threat situation or the stress situation at some point how is it a danger to democracy when local politicians are threatened decisions at the federal and state level must be explained to the people in municipalities they must be implemented compromis

es must be sought locally in the municipalities in order to implement them at the same time however local officials and elected officials also pick up on the mood and therefore shape the decision-making processes in the political parties and thus in the whole m m has found the right points of contact with the police and interia but even more important to him is the solidarity from those around him however he does not consider politics to be blameless in raising the temperature of the atmosphere

if you listen to speeches in the bundestag how aggressive it can get I can't even watch it in one go it can be so aggressive so others watching think I can deal with my neighbor the same way just like I think politicians should be much more aware of the role model effect M Miller has decided to pay much more attention to his tone in the future and he hopes that others will do the same