Florists in Bautzen (Budyšin) Germany

AfD overtakes center left in Germany's eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt - Deutsche Welle

SPD at 33. In all three states, the AfD looked likely to gain seats in parliament as popularity soared past the five percent threshold needed to enter German legislatures. The case of Bautzen showed how divided the German public has become as crowds are said to have cheered at the inflagation of a planned refugee home AfD leader slams accusation of 'spritual arson' The poll numbers may have been welcome news to AfD leader Frauke Petry on Monday, who was called to defend some of the party's recent rhetoric. After taking over in a power struggle with founder and now ex-leader Bernd Lucke over the summer, Petry has repeatedly found herself in hot water over her comments on refugees. In January she caused national outrage by suggesting border guards should use their weapons on illegal border-crossers, a statement she almost immediately backpedaled on - but not before Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel of the SPD suggested she be put on the national intelligence watchlist. Petry denied that her party has helped to stoke anti-immigrant hatred a day after a former hotel being turned into a refugee home was set on fire in the town of Bautzen in Saxony. The party leader argued that the AfD represented a "very necessary" alternative to traditional parties. She also decried comments from Bautzen's mayor that she and her party had committed "spiritual arson" with their politics. "To say something like that about a political opponent is cheap polemics," said Petry, adding that renewed calls from the SPD to have her investigated were "laughable." ...http://www.dw.com/en/afd-overtakes-center-left-in-germanys-eastern-state-of-saxony-anhalt/a-19066276

Green party politician remains most popular head of federal state in Germany: poll - Xinhua | English.news.cn - Xinhua

With an approval rate of 66 percent, Daniel Guenther, Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein, was the second most popular head of a federal state in Germany, followed by Stephan Weil of Lower Saxony who was ranked third with 60 percent. At the bottom of the ranking was Berlin's governing mayor, Michael Mueller (SPD), whose work was only rated positively by 27 percent of people living in the German capital's federal state. Following a big win in the European Parliament elections in May, where the Green party in Germany won 20.5 percent of votes and became second strongest political force, support for the Green party in Germany is at a historic high. According to last week's Trendbarometer, the Greens would gain the same number of votes as the governing conservative union CDU/CSU if elections were to be held. With regards to a first Green German chancellor, Winfried Kretschmann recently told the Funke Media Group that a German government led by the Greens would not involve a radical change of policy. "Nobody needs to be afraid of a Green Chancellor. We are not trumps or Erdogans or Orbans who throw everything overboard," Kretschmann told the German newspapers. The head of Baden-Wuerttemberg noted that he did not see "big differences" in alliances with the CDU/CSU and the SPD. "In socio-political issues, we make progress with the social democrats, in economic policy with the CDU/CSU". http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/16/c_138229413.htm

German Man Arrested After Failed Attack on Synagogue - The Wall Street Journal

Halle’s university hospital. A senior security official identified the suspect as Stephan Balliet, 27, a German citizen from the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Halle is located, and said he wasn’t previously known to authorities. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said prosecutors had enough information to assume a far-right motivation behind the attack, even though it was too early to make a final determination. The 35-minute video of the assault was streamed live on Twitch, a streaming platform owned by Amazon.com Inc., according to Storyful, a social-media intelligence company owned by News Corp, which also owns The Wall Street Journal. Christiane Prinz, 49, who owns a hairdressing salon opposite the synagogue, said she saw the suspect, dressed in a dark-green military outfit, launch a projectile over the synagogue’s gate into its front yard and cemetery, after which there was a loud bang. .webui-slideshow-inset a:link, .webui-slideshow-inset .webui-slideshow-inset a:visited { color: initial; } div...https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-killed-in-shooting-in-eastern-germany-11570621267

Chemnitz: Syrian asylum-seeker convicted of killing that sparked far-right riots - DW (English)

Daniel H.'s death, took another 8% and now has five of the 60 seats in the city council. Karsten Hilse, an AfD Bundestag member for Saxony, says last year's demos have been misrepresented. "Of course there were some far-right extremists there," he said. "But a young man was murdered, and then citizens got together who weren't far-right extremists, but just normal people like you and me, who said, 'right, this is enough now'." "What annoyed a lot of Chemnitzers is that hardly anyone talked about the murder afterwards, but only about the people who demonstrated," he argued. "But if you're a normal citizen, you go to work, you pay your taxes, and then you say ok, now I'm going on the street to say: 'I just don't...https://www.dw.com/en/chemnitz-syrian-asylum-seeker-convicted-of-killing-that-sparked-far-right-riots/a-50120472

German conservative politician resigns over far-right ties - DW (English)

Now, the local lawmaker has left Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. Robert Möritz, a local politician from the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, surprisingly announced his resignation from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on Friday, saying he wanted "to shield the party from further harm" and calm the political uproar. It recently emerged that Möritz had ties to Germany's right-wing extremist milieu, and has a symbol tattooed on his arm associated with neo-Nazism. Möritz said his resignation was about sending a signal, and that "sometimes, life is about focusing on one's true priorities." He added that he nevertheless fully subscribes to the conservative CDU's values. News of Möritz' links to Germany's far-right milieu had brought Saxony-Anhalt's government — a coalition between the CDU, center-left Social Democrats and environmentalist Greens — to the verge of collapse. On Thursday, the state's CDU issued an ultimatum to Möritz, demanding that he distance himself from the far-right or face repercussions. Read more: Right-wing extremists in Germany to face amped up intelligence The CDU governs Saxony-Anahlt in a coalition with the So...https://www.dw.com/en/german-conservative-politician-resigns-over-far-right-ties/a-51756713