Knife attack in Aschaffenburg: This is how the press comments on the bloody act

Once again a knife attack shocks Germany. In Aschaffenburg, a man killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man in a park and seriously injured two other people. The suspect was arrested; he is a 28-year-old with Afghan nationality. According to Bavaria’s Interior Minister, the suspected perpetrator was required to leave the country.

A month before the federal election, the crime broke out in the middle of the election campaign. Numerous politicians spoke out and demanded consequences. The migration debate in particular is once again coming into focus. Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz called for “clear political answers”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said: “We will quickly investigate this case and draw the necessary conclusions. Now.” The press also focuses on the political consequences of the crime.

“Focus”: “Olaf Scholz had the chance to act over the course of three years. Yesterday too he took refuge in the standard sentence of his condolences. In this situation, it depends on the future Chancellor. His Ahrtal moment takes place in Aschaffenburg. Friedrich Merz can – like Scholz – get out of the affair through empty expressions of sympathy or show what Armin Laschet said after the Ahrtal disaster in July 2021, ten weeks before Election, according to voters, did not show leadership.”

“Tages-Anzeiger”: “More and more Germans want radical solutions to get to the root of the problem, as they believe. The issue of migration and asylum will now become even more important for many citizens than it was after the Magdeburg shooting . The AfD, which promises the most radical solutions, sees Donald Trump’s deportation plans in the USA as a model and is already the second strongest party in the polls, can be happy.”

“Augsburger Allgemeine”: “Olaf Scholz is right: People are tired of such acts of violence happening every few weeks. ‘From perpetrators who actually came to us to find protection here,’ as the Chancellor says. Better than strong words, however, would be Decisive actions are overdue for the safety of everyone in this country.”

“Picture”: “This is the result of politics alien to our homeland. Our politicians, whose first duty to the state is internal security, take refuge in world debates – and do not do their homework. Our state made this possible. Anyone who wants to become chancellor in this country must now say, how he will protect our children, grandchildren and families from this madness.”

“Handelsblatt”: “Many may now ask: What is actually going wrong in asylum policy that people who have long been obliged to leave the country continue to live in Germany? Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz can be blamed for this shortcoming. His announcement in 2023 that he would deport people ‘finally on a large scale’ has come to pass largely proved to be an empty promise. The package of measures optimistically called the ‘Return Improvement Act’ has only brought about marginal improvements. In reality, there has been no substantial progress in deportations. at least not in the dimension promised by Scholz.”

“Tagesspiegel”: “‘It’s not enough to talk,’ said Scholz, describing the Aschaffenburg act as ‘terror’, while an authority spokesman ruled out exactly that. Who else has led the country in recent years with exactly this issue at the top on the agenda? With his statement, the Chancellor is likely to give the AfD and BSW further impetus. If something like this happens shortly before the federal election, it will influence the decision of some, perhaps even many, voters still be chancellor to turn to populist rhetoric?”