Germany's far right sought to turn a deadly Christmas market attack, suspected to have been carried out by an apparent supporter from Saudi Arabia, to its advantage on Monday, as politicians traded blame over security failures only weeks before a snap election.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party asked mourners to gather for what it called a "memorial" rally on Monday evening in Magdeburg , where five people were killed and dozens more injured when a speeding car rammed into shoppers late on Friday.
"Terror has arrived in our city," said the AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt state, Jan Wenzel Schmidt, condemning what he called the "monstrous political failure" that led up to the attack.
"We must close the borders," he told hundreds of supporters of the anti-immigration party. "We can no longer take in madmen from all over the world."
The party's co-leader, Alice Weidel, demanded "change so we can finally live in security again", as people in the crowd chanted: "Deport, deport, deport."
The suspect, Saudi-born doctor Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, had lived in Germany since 2006 and appeared to have eccentric views that had drawn the attention of authorities but did not fit a typical extremist profile. In online posts and media interviews he had criticised Islam and expressed support for the AfD and US billionaire Elon Musk.
A member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party said "every single step" taken by security services should be reviewed as he called for a swift inquiry into the attack. Lars Castellucci, who sits on a home affairs committee in parliament, said turning back migrants at the border would not have helped in the case of someone who had lived in Germany for so long.
The suspect was "by no means inconspicuous" and it was hard to understand why authorities seemed to have sent him only a written warning rather than confronting him in person, Mr Castellucci told German television. He accused the centre-right opposition of blocking tougher security measures proposed after an attack by a Syrian knifeman in August.
Konstantin Kuhle, a liberal MP, said the German state had shown itself "not good enough" at preventing attacks, after an Islamist extremist killed 12 people in a similar Christmas rampage in Berlin in 2016. He said there should be discussions on national policing standards for protecting Christmas markets, which typically draw tourists to Germany. Intelligence services have also come under scrutiny for failing to anticipate developments in Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years.
But AfD members were adamant that migration policy was the root of Germany's problems. "The discussion on new security laws cannot distract from the fact that Magdeburg would not have been possible without uncontrolled migration," Ms Weidel said on Monday. "The state must protect citizens via a restrictive migration policy and systematic deportations."
A second AfD member of parliament, Marc Bernhard, went campaigning on Monday and said voters were increasingly "sick and tired" of what he called the "deadly politics" of mainstream parties. "The AfD is the only alternative to this madness," he said.
Car attack at German Christmas market - in pictures
-
Police and ambulance crew at the site of a suspected Christmas market attack in central Germany. Getty Images -
A man drove his car into a crowd of revellers at Magdeburg's central town hall square, killing at least two people and injuring more than 60. AP -
Emergency personnel at the Christmas market treated people for injuries. Reuters -
Police officers guard the Christmas market crime scene. AP -
Police said the vehicle drove at least 400 metres across the Christmas market. AP -
The sounds of sirens from first responders at the Magdeburg site clashed with the market’s holiday mood. AP -
An ambulance races to a hospital in Magdeburg. AFP -
The Madgeburg Christmas market after the crash. Reuters -
The sounds of sirens from first responders at the Magdeburg site clashed with the market’s holiday mood. AP -
Rescuers and ambulances near tents housing injured people. AFP -
A police officer stands guard at a cordoned-off area near the Christmas market. AP -
Rescuers hug each other at the scene. AFP
In Magdeburg, anti-far right activists condemned the AfD for "launching its general election campaign" while the town mourns. The so-called mourning event on Monday evening is in fact "exploiting the victims and the people affected", said Pascal Begrich from a group called Together.
"Several things remain unclear about the attack and the perpetrator, but the AfD has already finished forming its political view," he said. "They are using this terrible attack for their political agenda and putting migration to Germany at the centre as a supposed cause."
Magdeburg is in one of the AfD's stronghold states in the former East Germany. Recent polls have put the party on just under 20 per cent of the vote nationally, in second place to the centre-right Christian Democrats. Mainstream politicians shun the AfD as an extremist party with echoes of the Nazi era.
Voter anger over migration and extremism has already pushed Mr Scholz's government into tougher measures, including six months of border checks at Germany's Schengen land borders, stricter rules on asylum and a first deportation to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in August. The AfD says it has been vindicated after years of anti-immigrant campaigning.
The early election is expected in February after Mr Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed in a row over economic policy last month. Polls show his Social Democrats in a battle for third place with the Greens, their only remaining coalition partners.
