Matthias Ecke, a leading Social Democratic Party candidate in the forthcoming European elections, was violently attacked and critically injured by a group of young men while putting up campaign posters in Dresden on Friday night.

Matthias Ecke, one of the lead candidates of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the upcoming European elections, was brutally assaulted and severely injured while hanging up campaign posters in Dresden, Saxony, on Friday evening.

According to initial media reports, a group of young men is thought to be behind the attack, which happened at around 10pm. An SPD spokesperson told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Ecke had to undergo emergency surgery due to the injuries he sustained.

Other groups of campaign officials were reportedly also threatened and insulted on Friday evening. Police say that a 28-year-old man, who was hanging up posters for The Greens, was attacked and injured by four individuals shortly before the assault on Ecke. Authorities believe that both attacks were committed by the same group.