For this reason, the attack drew comparisons to a killing of a police officer in the city of Mannheim in early June by a knife-wielding Afghan man whose asylum claim had initially been rejected — but who was nevertheless able to stay in Germany.
Following that attack, Scholz vowed to increase deportations of rejected asylum applicants. But the tougher talk did not stop the three parties that make up his coalition government — the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the fiscally-conservative Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens — of suffering historic losses in the European election days later.
In two state elections to be held this Sunday in Saxony and Thuringia, all three parties in the ruling coalition are struggling to win enough votes to reach the 5-percent threshold needed to make it into the state parliaments.
Germany has seen a rise in knife attacks in recent last months, triggering a national debate on increased security controls and no-knife zones. Around 430 such attacks have taken place in the first half of 2024, according to figures from the federal police.
Federal prosecutors have taken over the Solingen case, accusing the suspect of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors also suspect him of being a member of a foreign terrorist organization, the so-called Islamic State.
The Islamic State on Sunday published a video that allegedly shows the suspect. In the video, a masked man pledges allegiance to the terrorist militia in Arabic while brandishing a knife.
Analysts warned that Germany’s radical right will be the ultimate beneficiary if mainstream parties are unable to stop such violence.
“After attacks, politicians formulate steep demands and raise huge expectations, which are quickly disappointed and ultimately further undermine trust in politics,” Peter Neumann, a professor at Kings College London and one of the country’s most prominent terrorism experts, said in a reaction on X. “If democratic politics does not show the ability to act now, the opponents of democracy will win.”
