Brought to a safe place
Weidel cancels rally because of evidence of attack
October 3, 2023, 8:06 p.m
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Their appearance in the village of Mödlareuth was supposed to be the highlight of the AfD election campaign in Bavaria. But the party leader only spoke via video link. According to a spokesman, Weidel is refraining from making public appearances as a precaution after there were indications of an attack against her.
AfD leader Alice Weidel canceled an appearance at her party’s rally shortly before the state elections in Bavaria for security reasons. “The weekend before last there was a security-related incident. Ms. Weidel and her family were taken from their private apartment to a safe place by security authorities because evidence had accumulated that pointed to an attack on her family,” said a spokesman for the politician. As a precautionary measure, she refrained from making public appearances. When asked, a spokeswoman for the Federal Criminal Police Office said that they do not comment on individual facts.
The AfD had invited Weidel as a keynote speaker to the Day of German Unity in Mödlareuth – a place that is in both Bavaria and Thuringia and through which the inner-German border used to run. The date was supposed to be the highlight of the AfD election campaign in Bavaria.
Weidel addressed her followers with a video message. “I would like nothing more than to be with you today, but unfortunately I can’t,” she said and called for the Bavarian state government under Prime Minister Markus Söder to be given a lesson in the election next Sunday.
Numerous counter-demonstrators also came to the town to stand for democracy and cosmopolitanism and against right-wing extremism. The “Mödlareuth limitlessly colorful” campaign, among others, called for this. According to the Upper Franconia police headquarters, everything was quiet until the afternoon. According to the information, a total of 5,000 to 6,000 people came to the place.
Until reunification, the border between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic ran through Mödlareuth. Today the story of division and unity is told in the German-German Museum; parts of the wall and the barrier are still preserved.