BERLIN: A candidate for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s centre-left party in next month’s election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the Social Democrats party said Saturday. Matthias Ecke, 41, was attacked while putting up posters in Dresden on Friday. It said he was taken to hospital and required surgery for his injuries.Government and opposition parties say their members and supporters have faced a wave of physical and verbal attacks in recent months. Many of the incidents have occurred in the former communist east of the country, where the far-right and anti-establishment Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, is expected to make gains in the European elections and in German state elections in the fall.