Via Washington Post:
Just horribly depressing all around. Lock if old.Concerns over right-wing extremist violence mounted in Germany this week, after a string of death threats against several politicians that support allowing refugees into the country.
The threats came only days after Walter Luebcke, a regional politician and member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, was fatally shot at point-blank range in what investigators described as an "execution." One suspect with ties to the far-right has been taken into custody.
Since the 2015 influx of refugees in the country, other German politicians have been targeted for their pro-migrant stances, including independent Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker and conservative Altena Mayor Andreas Hollstein, both of whom were stabbed but survived. Reker and Hollstein were reportedly among the politicians who recently received new threats.
The incidents have shocked a country that had hoped to have overcome the worst of the tensions triggered by a flood of refugees four years ago. Authorities have recorded hundreds of attacks against asylum centers across the country, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party surged in the polls, becoming the biggest opposition party in the current parliament.
As refugee arrivals have plummeted, however, German public discourse had largely moved on to focus on other issues, including climate change and more mundane debates such as motorway speed limits.
Sunday's revelation that a far-right suspect may be behind regional council leader Luebcke's death raised new concerns that the fears over refugees coming to Germany may have given a permanent boost to the country's far-right extremists.
