Germany debates migration and motives after deadly Christmas market attack

As the nation mourns the victims of violence in Magdeburg, the far right is rallying against migration. The day before the attack, US billionaire Elon Musk stirred controversy by posting on the X social media platform he owns: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” Observers have described a sense of fear and concern, saying a blame game over the Magdeburg attack could distract from the main issues facing the German electorate. But what is obvious is that if there is an extremist force in the political discourse which is actually not only Islamophobic but generally phobic against any foreigners, if this is articulated in this strong way as the AfD is constantly doing, it trickles down,” said Justus von Daniels, editor of the German publication Correctiv, which in January broke the news of a meeting between the AfD and neo-Nazi activists to discuss a migrant deportation “master plan”. “The far right is so hypernormalised across Europe and North America at the moment that there are tremendous challenges that have emerged and will continue to emerge, particularly as President Donald Trump takes the helm in the US again.” The suspect made clear on social media his admiration for Europe’s hard-right leaders, such as the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. “For them, this attack is a stepping stone to gain more support, which is all the more disturbing since they are the ones who are going to attack people of colour in the street and intimidate political activists.” On Sunday, police in Bremerhaven, a port city in northern Germany, detained a man who took to TikTok to threaten violence.