German police are investigating an alleged attack on a regional politician from the right-wing Alternative for Germany party after he was approached and assaulted by two unidentified men in the city of Rostock in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Michael Meister, a member of the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, was injured on the arm during the attack and contacted police himself to report the incident. The state security unit of the Rostock criminal investigation department is now leading the inquiry, treating the case as suspected grievous bodily harm.
In a statement issued by the state AfD chapter, Meister said: “I am doing well, considering the circumstances.” His colleague Enrico Schult condemned the attack in strong terms. “Violence against elected representatives is a direct attack on the fundamental democratic order and must not be tolerated under any circumstances,” he said. “The protection of all those involved in politics — regardless of their party affiliation — must be guaranteed without restriction.”
Meister has sat as a member of the AfD’s parliamentary group in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since 2021. The attack comes at a politically sensitive moment for the party, with a new state parliament due to be elected in September and the AfD currently well ahead in the polls. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vote follows closely behind elections in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD is positioned to potentially secure an outright majority of seats — a result that would allow it to form a state government for the first time in the party’s history.
