The "Striesen Declaration" against violence in response to the attack on Saxon SPD politician Matthias Ecke is gaining more and more supporters. Within 24 hours, more than 300 politicians and more than 6,000 citizens had backed the demands, as the organization Brand New Bundestag announced on Monday evening. More than a fifth of the members of the Bundestag have now joined, as well as several party leaders, ministers and prime ministers.
Under the slogan "This far and no further", politicians from almost all the major parties joined forces after the attack on Ecke to speak out against violence in political disputes and pledged mutual respect. Ecke was attacked and injured on Friday evening in the Striesen district of Dresden. He underwent surgery on Sunday.
The statement is directed against "the ever escalating violence against politically engaged people in public spaces". It says: "Sometimes we don't have much in common politically - sometimes nothing. We are divided in color, but united in this matter. That's why we say: This far and no further. The slap in the face of Matthias Ecke was a slap against all of us - and against democracy itself."
