Leading left-wing lawmakers in Germany have suggested that “foreign forces” like Russia may have been behind the Islamist attack on Berlin’s Pride Parade last week in order to sway upcoming elections.
Despite Abdul Ballout, the 21-year-old Lebanese-heritage terrorist, reportedly declaring his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State before taking a van and mowing down attendees at the Christopher Street Day parade last week in the German capital, the attack may not be all that it seems, Social Democrat Bundestag members have suggested.
Commenting on the attack that killed one woman and left 31 injured, Social Democrat MP Sebastian Fiedler remarked that previous attacks such as those in Solingen nad Manheim had been shortly ahead of elections. He noted in remarks reported by Die Welt that amid the attack in Berlin, “there’s a heated election campaign underway in Saxony-Anhalt”.
The parliamentarian claimed that the perpetrators of such attacks are being “directed” by unknown actors “behind the scenes”. However, he also noted that “Russia is conducting hybrid warfare and a significant influence operation via Europe, and Germany in particular.”
Fiedler further asserted that Russia has ties to Islamist networks and therefore questioned whether Moscow was clandestinely using jihadists to influence elections in Germany.
Fiedler’s comments were shared by Karl Lauterbach — who previously served as the leftist Social Democrat’s lockdown chief during the Chinese coronavirus — who said: “It is indeed very noticeable that there are more attacks immediately before elections,” and that it was “very conceivable that foreign forces are involved.”
Fiedler’s comments were shared by Karl Lauterbach — who previously served as the leftist Social Democrat’s lockdown chief during the Chinese coronavirus — who said: “It is indeed very noticeable that there are more attacks immediately before elections,” and that it was “very conceivable that foreign forces are involved.”
Top anti-extremism expert Ahmad Mansour said: “How far removed from reality must one be to spread such nonsense?”
“Anyone who ventures outside their own social media bubble, talks to teachers, reads the MOTRA study, is familiar with the Berlin studies on violence in schools, walks through Berlin, visits universities, or takes note of the assessments of the federal and state offices for the protection of the constitution, as well as the Federal Ministry of the Interior, knows that Islamist radicalization is a real and serious challenge,” he wrote on X. “One simply has to be willing to acknowledge the facts.”
However, Lauterbach and Fiedler were not alone in apparently attempting to shift blame away from radical Islamism, with the media and establishment being quick to raise concerns over the so-called far-right. In Britain, left-wing Labour Party MP Kate Osbourne even attempted to claim that the Islamist terror attack in Berlin was somehow a result of the “hate” in British politics with the rising popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.