German politician attacked amid concerns over violence ahead of EU elections

Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey attends a commemoration for homosexual victims of the Holocaust in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP)

A prominent Berlin politician was violently assaulted and suffered injuries to her head and neck, police have said, in the latest attack on elected officials that raises concern over rising political violence in Germany.

Frankziska Giffey, the city’s top economic official, a former mayor and an ex-federal minister, was attacked at an event in a Berlin library on Tuesday by a man who approached her from behind and hit her with a bag containing a hard device.