The leader of a breakaway populist leftwing party in Germany, Sahra Wagenknecht, has been sprayed with pink paint while campaigning in elections in the eastern state of Thuringia.
Wagenknecht, a former high-profile member of the far-left party Die Linke, who this year founded the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), was attacked on stage on Thursday as she prepared to address crowds in Erfurt. She ducked as a man approached the stage and spattered paint in her direction, which hit her dress and face.
The attack took place before key votes on Sunday in the two eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony, where the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is leading in the polls, and where the BSW – on about 20% in Thuringia, and between 11% and 15% in Saxony – is on track to emerge as the kingmaker.
The man’s motive remained unclear, and he did not react when he was removed from the scene.
Witnesses said the alleged attacker, identified later as a 50-year-old man, appeared to shouted “Ukraini” or “Ukrainia” as he stood in front of the stage. Some said he used a medical syringe to spray the paint, which was described by a BSW aide as “very hard to remove”.
Wagenknecht, known for her pro-Russia stance, has said she would seek to end military support for Ukraine and would push for a far tighter immigration policy.
She has also campaigned to prevent the planned stationing of US missiles on German soil.
The crowd who had gathered to hear Wagenknecht speak chanted “Sahra, Sahra” as she was helped from the stage by aides, while the man, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, was quickly tackled to the ground by security staff, who led him away in handcuffs.
Swiftly returning to the podium, Wagenknecht said: “It’s apparent that some people don’t want us. That speaks in favour of us. Don’t let yourselves be intimidated; we won’t let ourselves be intimidated.”
The crowd reacted with applause and cheers.
“We’re going to change this country,” she added.
She later wrote on X: “Many thanks for the many concerned queries: I’m doing fine. It’s only the shock that is still in my bones. But don’t worry: we won’t let ourselves be intimidated!”
Wagenknecht, who took numerous members of Die Linke with her when she formed the BSW, has presented her party as a new force that can steer Germany out of myriad crises, including a surge in the cost of living and the rise of the far right.
She has pledged to provide higher pensions, an improved education system, a reduction in immigration without excluding refugees, and a reduction in bureaucracy in the workplace.
Sceptics have noted that while she is a charismatic figure, Wagenknecht has yet to hold a position of political responsibility in Germany.
Although the far right leads in polling before Sunday’s votes, it is not expected to come to power in either Thuringia or Saxony, owing to a pact between the other parties ruling out working with the AfD in government.
That decision puts the BSW in a potentially strong position to influence coalition-building. The same applies in the state of Brandenburg, which goes to the polls in three weeks’ time. Wagenknecht, while ruling out governing with the AfD in a coalition, does not rule out cooperating with the party on issues where their ideas align, she has said.
