A disastrous weekend unfolds in MV, marked by multiple unfortunate events.
"This bloody act needs swift repercussions": A group of youths mercilessly attacked two Ghanaian girls in Grevesmühlen. This is just one of multiple racially-motivated incidents reported this weekend in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Such disturbing events give a disgraceful image to the state at the start of the UEFA European Football Championship.
Over the weekend, various headlines from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have left many shocked. What started with racist reinterpretations of a popular song, chanted by a rich crowd on Sylt a few weeks ago, seems to have led to police-recorded events in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Exactly at the start of the UEFA European Championship. Among crowds waving German flags, some DFB fans could be heard chanting "Germans for the Germans - foreigners out" in front of numerous witnesses in Rostock-Warnemünde. This resulted in a violent clash with the police. A 15-year-old girl was even reported to have joyfully cheered on.
On Saturday, around 20 men stood undisturbed on the Schlossbrücke in Schwerin. In front of the parliament building. They were bare-chested, unchallenged, giving the Nazi salute. A woman filmed them. The police could only search for witnesses in retrospect. The suspects had already disappeared. On Friday evening, the officers arrived in time at the crime scene on the Schweriner Marienplatz. They arrested a 45-year-old German man. He had previously injured a 33-year-old Algerian with a knife in the face. The man was taken to the hospital.
In the extreme south-east of the federal state, a 24-year-old German was the victim of a violent crime late Friday into Saturday. On the festival ground in Penkun, the heavily intoxicated man suffered a broken nose and finger. Six to seven people are said to have attacked him according to a witness report. Beforehand, the usual racist, foreigner-hating melody was heard in the community in the Landkreis Vorpommern-Greifswald. The police report that the injured man had a "southern European appearance, a connection to the chanting of the slogans and the crime is not excluded".
"I am disgusted"
Under the heading "Police Intervention in Grevesmühlen," a particularly appalling act was reported. On a Friday evening, a group of around 20 people attacked two young girls. They were eight and ten years old. They were from Ghana. Several people hit the younger girl in the face. The parents of the children intervened. The father was also lightly injured. When the police arrived, an unknown person insulted the victims racially. According to the officers, the suspects were reportedly teenagers and young adults.
This incident has caused outrage. Minister-President Manuela Schwesig wrote on the platform X, "I am disgusted by the brutal attack of teenagers on two Ghanaian girls in Grevesmühlen. The injured girl is eight years old - as young as my daughter. We must not allow hate and incitement to poison our society and threaten our children." She further stated, "This appalling act must have consequences. Racism and violence are abhorrent. This is especially true when children are targeted."
Schwesig's SPD is currently coalition partners in Schwerin. The parliamentary spokesperson of the Landtag faction, Michael Noetzel, stated, "What the hell is going on in our federal state? The racist attack in Grevesmühlen is beyond contempt. In the face of such a cruel and cowardly act, I am at a loss for words." He further stated, "This attack is a manifestation of a growing and emboldened sense of nationalism and racism on the streets, which many had warned and feared after the recent election."
Not only in Grevesmühlen, but also in Schwerin, Rostock, and other parts of the state, it seems that racist and Nazi perpetrators have been feeling increasingly encouraged and empowered to act out, according to the Left politician. "Fueled by racist incitement in the parliaments and a shift in the discourse towards the right, which is reflected in the most recent election results, verbal abuse and physical attacks are the result."
Racism is visible elsewhere as well
And the AfD in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern? They have remained silent on the racist attacks (as of Sunday afternoon) in the common social media networks. Instead, they are celebrating the "Pride Month" in prominent ways there. On June 13, the chairman Nikolaus Kramer shared a picture of his faction in the Landtag. Tables in front of the deputies are adorned with small German flags. "My faction shows unity in the plenary hall," he wrote.
In the recent European election, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the dominant party in the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, securing 28.3% of the votes. In the Nordwestmecklenburg district, which includes Grevesmühlen as its second largest city, the party garnered 26.6% of the votes, putting them in the lead. The AfD swept numerous counties, including the state capital Schwerin, the Hanseatic city of Rostock, Nordwestmecklenburg, and Vorpommern-Greifswald.
Unfortunately, the incidences of hate speech and racism aren't confined to football fan celebrations across Europe. Over the weekend, such incidents were reported in Saarland, St. Wendel, and Bremen. Yet, the prevalence of such crimes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a region with approximately 1.6 million residents, is concerning. The region's reputation has been less than inviting for years, even decades. As long as hateful chants like "Foreigners out" echo and attacks on white individuals persist, there's little hope for change. For the victims, it's a living nightmare. For the nation, it's a source of shame.
In response to the events in Grevesmühlen, the Vice President of the German Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, appealed for an "Uprising of the Decent". She warns that silence equates complicity. According to the Green parliamentarian, racism has always been present in Germany but has embedded itself in society. "Racists now have the audacity to vent their hatred loudly and shamelessly. A free and democratic society, as well as a strong rule of law, must decisively and resolutely put an end to it," she said to "Tagesspiegel".
Read also:
- The recent local elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania saw the AfD gain significant support, with their chairman, Nikolaus Kramer, celebrating their victory on social media, despite the escalating incidents of racism and right-wing extremism in the region.
- The spike in racially-motivated incidents, such as the violent attacks in Grevesmühlen and the Nazi salutes in Schwerin, has led many, including Minister-President Manuela Schwesig and SPD parliamentary spokesperson Michael Noetzel, to condemn the growing sense of nationalism and racism in the state and call for action.
- The troubling events have also sparked concerns about the state of democracy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with some politicians fearing that the shift towards the right and the rise of extreme right-wing parties like the AfD could weaken the rule of law and tolerance in the region.
