Migration smashes into German elections after deadly knife attack

BERLIN — It’s migration, again.
A knife attack allegedly perpetrated by a Syrian asylum seeker that authorities are investigating as a possible act of terrorism has renewed a heated debate over migration in Germany ahead of three state elections in which the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to surge.
The 26-year-old Syrian, identified in the German press as Issa al H., was detained on suspicion of killing three people and seriously injuring several more at a festival in the western city of Solingen on Friday night. The Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attack, though authorities have not been able to confirm the veracity of the claim.
“That was terrorism,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to Solingen on Monday. “I want to make it clear that I am angry and furious at this act, which must be punished quickly and severely.”
Scholz vowed to step up deportations, maintain border checks that were put in place during the European Championship, and tighten weapons regulations, in particular when it comes “to the use of knives.”
But those promises are unlikely to do much to quell a fierce debate over immigration that has erupted in the wake of the attack. Migration is a key concern among voters ahead of three state elections in eastern Germany in September. The far-right AfD, with its anti-immigration message, is leading — or close to leading —  local polls in all three states.
“In view of the daily headlines about violence by foreigners, it is no longer possible to say that such events are unpredictable and surprising,” Björn Höcke, the AfD’s lead candidate in state of Thuringia, which goes to polls on Sunday, wrote on X. “That is why governments are complicit. But the circumstances will only change when those responsible are finally voted out of office!”
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is competing with the AfD in the eastern elections with an increasingly hard stance on migration, wrote an open letter addressing the chancellor, calling for a stop to allowing in asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan as well as an increase in deportations of those whose claims have been rejected.
“We want you to fulfill your oath of office and avert harm of the German people,” Merz wrote, addressing Scholz.
The suspect in the attack had his asylum claim denied last year and was slated for deportation to Bulgaria, the country German authorities deemed responsible for processing the claim. But the deportation never happened and the suspect eventually received subsidiary protection in Germany.
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.”