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EURO 2012

FOOTBALL

Merkel will see Germany take on Greece

Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the Euro 2012 quarter final between Germany and Greece on Friday, a spokesman said, a match with plenty of resonance off the field amid a crippling economic crisis.

Published: 20 June 2012 15:21 CEST
Merkel will see Germany take on Greece
Photo: DPA

“She is hoping for an exciting and fair match,” the government’s deputy spokesman Georg Streiter told reporters at a regular news conference on Wednesday.

Merkel will fly from a crucial four-way summit with the leaders of Italy, Spain and France in Rome which jittery financial markets are watching for signs of long-term solutions to the eurozone’s debt crisis.

This meeting was brought forward at Merkel’s request, the German government said later on Wednesday, without drawing a direct link to the football.

“Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to bring forward the meeting on Friday in Rome. Monti agreed and the chancellor has thanked him,” Streiter said in a written statement.

Streiter had previously told reporters it was Monti who wanted the meeting to be held earlier than planned.

Germany coach Joachim Löw has sought to play down the wider political significance of the match in the Polish city of Gdansk, telling reporters he is preparing his side for “a normal football contest.”

But with Merkel cutting an unpopular figure in Greece for her insistence on painful austerity measures as the best response to the crisis, the match has taken on an added intensity.

Nevertheless, midfielders Sami Khedira and Thomas Müller both said they were delighted Germany’s leader would be attending.

“We are also a fan of hers,” revealed Real Madrid star Khedira. “We’re happy every time she comes. She seems to us good luck. She is very friendly and very open with an interest in football.”

The German chancellor already visited the national team at their Euro 2012 base in Gdansk, Poland, just before the tournament started, and enjoys close links with the Mannschaft.

“It’s nice to feel the full support of the political world back home too,” added Bayern Munich’s Müller.

The German football association (DFB) said Merkel’s presence was sure to be a good omen for the clash.

“The last two internationals that the chancellor watched at the stadium resulted in big wins for the German team: 3-0 on October 8 against Turkey in Berlin and 4-0 in the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina in Cape Town,” the DFB said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble turned pundit for the match, predicting a 3-1 win for the Mannschaft in an interview with the weekly Die

Zeit newspaper.

While politicians and footballers have downplayed the crisis angle, newspapers in both countries have stoked the enmity.

“Bring us Merkel,” read a headline in Goal News, while daily newspaper Bild splashed: “Poor Greeks, we’ll give you your next bankruptcy for free.”

Asked if Merkel might take advantage of the match to meet Greece’s next leader, Antonis Samaras, Streiter said the trip “was all about sport” and quipped that if there were to be such a meeting, “it might be at half-time.”

“If he is there, they will of course meet and they will greet each other warmly and then talk about football: about offsides and other such miscellaneous topics,” Streiter said, to laughter from the assembled reporters.

The announcement of Merkel’s attendance at the match in Poland came as the British government said none of its ministers will go to England’s Euro 2012 quarter-final against Italy, which takes place in co-host Ukraine.

Anger is running high across Europe over the treatment of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, and other governments have been putting mounting pressure on Ukraine.

No British ministers attended England’s three group matches – against France, Sweden and Ukraine – as they were all staged in Ukraine, though the ambassador to Kiev did go.

AFP/jcw

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CRIME

Why are German politicians facing increasing attacks?

A series of attacks on politicians in recent weeks show that politics in Germany has become extremely polarised. With tensions running high ahead of EU elections, The Local takes a look at recent violent incidents, and why they are increasing.

Published: 10 May 2024 13:55 CEST
Why are German politicians facing increasing attacks?

Police in Stuttgart said two state lawmakers received minor injuries after being attacked Wednesday evening at an event for the 75th anniversary of Germany’s constitution.

The two politicians were members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and two women, 19 and 23, are under investigation for the incident.

This is just the latest in a spate of attacks suffered by politicians from various parties across Germany in recent weeks.

Among the more severe was an attack on Matthias Eck, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) party, who was hanging up election posters around Dresden on May 3rd when four people accosted him. According to ZDF, eyewitnesses heard one of the attackers yell “f*cking Greens” before they began punching and kicking him. Ecke later required an operation in the hospital.

Just before the attack on Ecke, a Greens campaigner had been attacked on the same street. Based on matching descriptions of the perpetrators and spatial proximity of the crimes, police assume it was the same attackers in both cases.

READ ALSO: Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

Another notably violent attack was carried out in a Berlin library against the capital city’s senator for economic affairs and former mayor, Franziska Giffey (SDP). Police said that the attacker had come “from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck”. A 74 year old man was suspected of carrying out the attack and he was later arrested.

A number of other attacks and threats against Green party and AfD politicians were reported within the week. Green party members Kai Gehring and Rolf Fliß were attacked in Essen after a party event.

Demonstrators in Brandenburg harassed Green politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt while she was in her car and prevented her from leaving. 

In Nordhorn, Lower Saxony, a man threw an egg at an AfD state parliament member and hit him in the face. 

A troublesome trend of violent responses to politics

Politically motivated extremist attacks are not new to Germany, but the increase in the number of attacks recently is cause for concern, especially for local political leaders.

Following the attack she experienced, Giffey posted on Instagram saying that she was fine, but added that she was “worried and shaken by the increasingly wild culture” observed in German politics.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Franziska Giffey (@franziskagiffey)

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had responded to the attack on Matthias Ecke, calling the attack a threat to democracy.

A number of similar attacks and threats were also recorded in 2023, including an attack on Andreas Jurca (AfD) in Augsburg, and the blockade of a ferry with Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck on board.

According to preliminary figures released by the federal government, recorded crimes against politicians have risen since 2019 for all parties – from 2,267 in 2019 to 2,790 in 2023.

In 2019, AfD representatives were most often the targets of attacks, whereas in 2023 it was predominately the Greens.

These numbers also include cases of property damage and threats or insults.

anti-extremism demo in Dresden

Participants at a rally against extremism in response to the attack on Matthias Ecke in Dresden. A man holds a sign reading “Stop hate preachers”. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Kahnert

What’s causing an increase in extremism in Germany?

Dr. Stefan Marschall, professor of political science at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, says there has been an increase in polarisation in politics in Germany.

Marschall told The Local that this polarisation means more and more often “people who think differently are perceived as enemies”. He added that, as opposed to the US where people are largely split between two more or less equally strong camps, in Germany radical groups take aim at their counterparts on the other side of the political spectrum and also at the more moderate majority.

“Vilifying political elites is part of the core strategy of right-wing populist parties,” Marschall said.

But understanding the issues contributing to political extremism and fixing them are two different things. Furthermore, Marschall notes that citizens’ attitudes and beliefs can be changed only to a limited extent by institutions.

That said, the political scientist suggests that communication is key for mitigating these radical acts: “Overall, there needs to be greater awareness that polarised and divisive language benefits populist parties in particular”.

Social media shares some responsibility here too, as communication and information sharing platforms have made it easier to mobilise protest as well as violence.

READ ALSO: A fight for the youth vote – Are German politicians social media savvy enough?

Can the tension be expected to ease after the EU elections?

Asked if the number of attacks might decrease following the EU elections in June, Marschall pointed out that elections always bring a higher rate of attacks on political figures: “Election campaigns are always heated times in which such incidents are more likely because politicians literally take to the streets.”

But there have also been a number of incidents observed outside of election cycles.

“We are now realising that democracy is vulnerable, after democracy has long been taken for granted,” Marschall said. “That is why people are now rightly talking and thinking about how to protect democracy institutionally and how to set an example for democratic culture. Ultimately, this strengthens democratic resilience.”

On Sunday thousands of protestors rallied in Dresden to stand against right-wing extremism following the attacks on Matthias Ecke. In Berlin too, around 1,000 people gathered in front of Brandenburg Gate.

But considering the number of political attacks already seen in 2024, for now it looks like political extremism can be expected to get worse before it gets better.

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