The right-wing party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) and its opponents are planning rallies in Magdeburg on Monday, following an attack on visitors to the Christmas market on Friday when a perpetrator drove into the crowd.
AfD intends to hold a rally at Domplatz square, followed by a memorial march in the evening. The event will be attended by Alice Weidel, a candidate for chancellor in the upcoming elections, and several regional AfD politicians. In the party’s invitation, AfD emphasizes that this tragic act highlights the dangers of the current immigration policy.
At the same time, a parallel event called “Give No Chance to Hate” is scheduled, where participants will form a human chain around the Old Market. This is where the attacker, Taleb A., drove his car through the Christmas market, killing five people, including a 9-year-old child, and injuring over 200.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a member of the Social Democratic Party, suggested in an interview with Spiegel after the attack that immediate legislation on internal security should be passed. She reminded that after the Islamist attack in Solingen in August, which resulted in three deaths and eight injuries, the government tightened gun laws and increased the powers of security forces.
However, the minister added that further legislative changes are being blocked by former coalition partners, the Free Democrats, and the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU). For instance, in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, the CDU blocked a bill to reform the federal police aimed at strengthening police powers and introducing biometric surveillance.
The German prosecutor is investigating the incident as murder and attempted murder. The motives behind the attack are currently being determined.
