Terrorism, political extremism, and social tensions due to mass migration are Germans’ greatest concerns ahead of the federal election, according to a survey.
The annual survey by R & V insurance published Thursday reveals that at the top of Germans’ concerns was terrorism, with 71 per cent of respondents saying they were fearful of potential terror attacks, reports Die Welt.
The results of “The Fears of Germans 2017” show a marked change compared to just over one month ago when Germans responded to a similar survey, conducted by the Kantar Emnid opinion research centre, where respondents claimed that their greatest concern was climate change (71 per cent) with terror attacks in third place at 63 per cent.
The month of August saw a spate of acts of terrorism across Europe including a sword attack on police outside Buckingham Palace, a 37-year-old Algerian mowing down six French soldiers on the streets of Paris, and the Catalonia terror attacks which saw an Islamist cell of a dozen Moroccan and Moroccan-origin men commit vehicular ramming attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain.
In total, the summer months (June to August) saw 19 attempted or executed terror attacks resulting in 27 fatalities and approximately 250 injuries across the continent.
Of next greatest concern was political extremism, with 62 per cent of Germans saying they were concerned by right wing and left wing extremists.
Left wing violence in Germany and Europe is becoming an epidemic as reports show incidents of left wing violence have far outpaced right wing violence. Senior German officials warn that Alt-Left violence has been severely underestimated and that left-extremists could be willing to kill.
Police in Germany are often subject to attack by violent leftists; in July, nearly 500 officers were injured and 2,000 crimes were committed by Antifa and other Alt-Left extremists during the G20 riots in Hamburg.
In a close third, 61 per cent of the citizens also fear that a further influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa could lead to tensions between Germans and with foreigners already living in the country.
Since the start of the migrant crisis in 2015, when Chancellor Angela Merkel invited migrants from the Middle East and Africa to travel to northern Europe in unlimited numbers, the country has seen a rise in crime, sectarian violence between rival migrant groups, and sexual assaults and rapes.
Following the mass sex attacks on girls and women at Cologne Station on New Year’s Eve 2015/2016, a survey found more than half of German women no longer feel safe walking in their own neighbourhoods.
Germany is set to go to the polls on September 24th, with Chancellor Merkel expected to win a fourth term in office. In a debate between the Christian Democratic Union leader and her socialist rival Martin Schulz, Merkel stood by her decision to allow one million unvetted migrants into the country, saying that migrants are “no threat to Germany”.
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