Hecklers greet Merkel in her former heartland

HOLIDAYMAKERS looked up in surprise from their lunch in the market square and people flocked to their windows as Angela Merkel strolled through the historic resort town of Greifswald yesterday.

The German election campaign came to town as Mrs Merkel dropped into her parliamentary constituency for a flying visit. The most powerful woman in the world posed for selfies, gave a short address from a hastily constructed stage, then announced she would take questions face-to-face and plunged into the crowd pursued by worried-looking security guards.

It was classic Merkel political theatre. She had come home to her heartland in the former communist East. The first former East German to be elected chancellor, Mrs Merkel used to command a formidable voter base here.

But this year is different. The first sign was when a light aircraft flew overhead as Mrs Merkel began to speak, trailing a banner which read “Vote AFD”. Then the whistles and the heckling began.

Today, the former communist East is as much the heartland of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AFD) party. While Mrs Merkel is riding high in the national polls, the AFD has sought to exploit its strength in the East by targeting Mrs Merkel’s appearance. Crowds of AFD supporters have been bussed in to heckle and jeer.

Mrs Merkel has taken them on. With one poll showing almost half of German voters are still undecided ahead of the election on the 24th of this month, she is not taking any chances. When AFD supporters tried to heckle her, she cut them down.

“You cannot achieve anything with whistling and yelling,” she told them, much to the crowd’s delight.