The stabbing incident that took place recently involves a suspect who is a 28-year-old Afghan national. This individual arrived in Germany towards the end of 2022 and soon after, he lodged an application for asylum, as per the details shared by Joachim Hermann, the Interior Minister of Bavaria. It is important to note that the suspect had previously been admitted for treatment in a psychiatric hospital. Hermann further suggested that mental health issues may have been a contributing factor in the violent incident.
The suspect had expressed a desire to depart from Germany during December 2024, but he never left. The investigating authorities have clarified that there are no indications suggesting the act was politically motivated.
The Chancellor, Scholz, has demanded an immediate and thorough inquiry into the circumstances that led to the suspect continuing to stay in Germany. He emphasized that, “the reasons why the assailant was still present in the country need to be urgently investigated and immediate action needs to be taken.”
Scholz’s unusually firm stance arrives in the backdrop of his electoral rivals criticizing his administration’s migration policies. Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), did not miss the opportunity to criticize the conservative Christian Social Union party, the ruling party in Bavaria.
Weidel made her stance clear in her post on X, using the far-right code phrase “Remigration now!” to advocate for mass deportations. The AfD’s primary campaign message is that there is a correlation between crime and immigration, and the traditional parties are incapable of preserving public safety.
However, the AfD is not the sole party capitalizing on public discontent regarding immigration. Friedrich Merz, the conservative chancellor candidate from the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is also promising to lessen immigration and enhance security. Currently, the conservatives are leading in the polls with a 30% approval rating, while the AfD follows with 21%.
