The far-right Alternative for Germany called Monday for rivals to scale back their criticism of the party, saying the blackballing it is being subjected to could harm democracy in the country. The party, known by its German acronym AfD, almost failed to clear the 5% threshold in Sunday’s regional election in Hamburg after coming under sustained fire from mainstream parties and the media in recent weeks. AfD has been accused of stoking the kind of anti-migrant sentiment that drove a 43-year-old German to shoot dead nine people in the city of Hanau last week — a charge the party rejects.
