Foam cake against Lindner: Political turmoil in Greifswald!

On January 9, 2025, a scandalous incident occurred during an election date in Greifswald, in which the FDP boss Christian Lindner was attacked with a foam cake. The attacker, Christiane Kiesow, is a local politician and member of the district board of the left in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. She is responsible for events, local politics and social media, as her party indicates.

The attack occurred on Thursday afternoon when Kiesow threw the cake into the face of Lindner. After the attack, she was brought to the ground by officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and recorded her personal details. The police filed an advertisement on suspicion of assault and insult. Christiane Kiesow now threatens a fine or even a prison sentence of up to five years, as police spokeswoman Caroline Kohl confirmed. The criminal police have initiated investigations while the state security was consulted due to the politically motivated act.

reactions from politics

The reactions to the incident were overwhelming. Christian Lindner warned of a "brutalization" in the political argument and continued his election campaign trip with a appearance in Rostock. The designated FDP general secretary Marco Buschmann expressed sharp criticism of the attack and emphasized that such attacks in democracy should have lost nothing. Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the crime as improper and dangerous and spoke of solidarity under Democrats.

The Left Party has also commented on the incident. The federal leaders condemned Kiesow's approach and emphasized the importance of a confrontation to content. Dietmar Bartsch, former Bundestag parliamentary group leader of the Left, explained that physical attacks were unacceptable. Karl Lauterbach, Federal Minister of Health, was also concerned and demanded that the attacker were punished. Robert Habeck, top candidate of the Greens, and Friedrich Merz, Union Chancellor candidate, also expressed her criticism of assault in political discourse.

The left youth MV does not distanced itself from the cake thrower, while the party youth "Solid" published a contribution on Instagram that supports the crime. These developments throw a light on the increasing willingness to violence in the political argument.