A municipal candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the western German city of Mannheim was stabbed with a box cutter, German authorities said on Wednesday.
While police said Tuesday night's incident did not appear to be politically motivated, it came four days after a knife attack on members of an anti-Islam party in the same city, raising concerns about more violence ahead of Germany's European Parliament elections on Sunday.
Emil Sänze, a spokesman for the AfD in Baden-Württemberg, where the city of Mannheim is located, said Tuesday's attack came after Heinrich Koch, a candidate running for a municipal post in Mannheim, noticed a man “tearing up and destroying” AfD campaign posters.
After Koch confronted the man, the man attacked Koch with a box cutter, Sanzer said. Koch was taken to a hospital Tuesday night for stitches but is expected to make a full recovery, Sanzer said.
Mr. Sanzer said Mr. Koch filmed the entire altercation, which helped police arrest the suspect.
Mannheim police said a 25-year-old man with “clear signs of mental illness” had been detained and sent to a closed psychiatric ward. Police added that they believed the suspect was unaware that Mr Koch was a member of the Alternative for Germany party, also known as the AfD.
Concerns about political violence in Germany have intensified after an attack in Mannheim on Friday in which a man armed with a machete Stabbed five people A police officer who tried to intervene was also injured and later died.
Since then, the Afghan party has stepped up its criticism of the government's refugee policy, while politicians from other political factions have resumed discussing how to deport people whose asylum applications have been rejected. The suspect in Friday's attack was an Afghan citizen who had lived in Germany for more than a decade.
In addition to the European Parliament elections, Baden-Württemberg will hold municipal elections on Sunday, where Mr Koch is the state candidate.
German police and politicians An increase in violence has been noted In recent weeks, Matthias Eck, the Social Democratic Party's candidate for the European Parliament and the head of Germany's coalition government, was attacked while putting up posters in Dresden, resulting in a fractured cheekbone and eye socket.
