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CRIME

‘We aren’t all Nazis’: Chemnitz on edge after anti-migrant violence

Chemnitz is uneasy after a wave of racist violence following the deadly stabbing of a local man, allegedly by two migrants, stoking tension and tarnishing the eastern German city's image.

'We aren't all Nazis': Chemnitz on edge after anti-migrant violence
A protest in Chemnitz Thursday. A protester holds an old CDU election sign saying "For security and order: Merkel's criminal lie 2017."

“We aren't all Nazis,” sighs 60-year old pharmacist Rita Thal.

“Everything people are seeing and hearing about Chemnitz, it doesn't  reflect reality,” she tells AFP while queuing outside the city's football stadium where Michael Kretschmer, head of the eastern state of Saxony, was to hold a town hall-style meeting.

Although the event had long been in the diary, it took on a new urgency  after a week in which black-clad far-right demonstrators attacked foreigners and clash with police and counter-protesters.

Around 500 people packed into a stuffy hall inside the grounds to hear  Kretschmer, while outside, another 800 or so gathered for a demonstration organized by Pro Chemnitz – a radical right-wing movement with three seats on the city council.

Distant cries of “Get out!” directed at the state premier filter through  the windows and the mood inside is tense.

In Chemnitz, like in many other towns and cities, there is a simmering anger over crimes committed by migrants which have been given a high profile  in the media, stoking concern about the integration of more than one million  people who have arrived since 2015.

Sunday's stabbing is just the latest incident, but in Chemnitz they are  demanding answers.

'Not a brown town'

As mayor Barbara Ludwig of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) takes to the stage, she bears the brunt of the anger, with a chorus of booing interrupting her speech as she struggles to make herself heard.

“In Chemnitz, we're wavering between love and hate,” she declares.

Kretschmer also seeks to reassure the crowd.

“This is not a far-right town, this town is not brown,” he insisted, referring to the traditional colour of fascism and the Nazi party.

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that images of the mob giving Hitler salutes with their right arm outstretched in front of police too few in number to stop  them, have been seen “around the world” on television and social media.

During the communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the  city was known as Karl-Marx-Stadt, but following reunification in 1990, its industries fell into disrepair, like in many other towns in eastern Germany's so-called “new states”.

Since then, however, the city centre has been spruced up with green spaces  established, buildings renovated and theatres and museums opening their doors.

 'Lurking fear'

But for local residents, security remains the top concern.

“There's a feeling of lurking fear, especially among older people, stoked  by the far right,” explains Sabine Kühnrich, who runs a grassroots movement for democracy and tolerance.

For Birgit Menzel, a 59-year-old insurance saleswoman also at the gathering, it's not clear why people are afraid.

“Foreigners? We don't have many of them here,” she says. 

Only around seven percent of Chemnitz's population of 246,000 is  foreign-born, a figure which is relatively low compared to Frankfurt or Munich where the percentage is above 25 percent.

But a man standing nearby interrupts her.

“You're talking nonsense. People are afraid, and they're right to be. I don't let my 13-year-old daughter go into town by herself,” the shaven-headed 40-something says angrily.

“How can you say foreigners aren't a problem? Haven't you read about what's  happened?” he demands.

Another woman nods in agreement. 

“If the victim had been your child, you wouldn't be reacting like this!”

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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