The violence of December 31, 2022 in Berlin arouses collective controversy

Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey with police officers in the fireworks-free zone at Alexanderplatz on New Year's Eve in Berlin, December 31, 2022. REUTERS - MICHELE TANTUSSI

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After two quieter years due to restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, New Year's Eve was again very noisy in Germany where firecrackers and other fireworks are traditionally used massively to celebrate the new year.

But in Berlin this year, the violence against police and firefighters has been massive.

They shocked and provoked a lively debate on the integration of young people of foreign origin. 

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From our correspondent in Berlin,

New Year's Eve excesses are nothing new.

Pyrotechnic products are used to attack other people, not to mention the many accidents to be deplored.

In Berlin, what shocked a few days ago was the number of attacks, significantly higher than usual, against firefighters or police officers who were protecting them.

Occasionally, street fires have been started to get firefighters out of their vehicles before they are attacked.

In total, around forty police officers were injured and around fifteen firefighters.

Nearly 150 people, mostly young men, were arrested.

About a third were German.

Seventeen other nationalities were among those people, including two large groups, Syrians and Afghans. 

The dangerousness of migrants, the timely debate

This more significant violence than usual provoked more controversial reactions, especially from conservative circles.

And if a debate also takes place on the prohibition or not of the sale of fireworks, that which is most important concerns the questions of integration of young foreigners or of foreign origin.

We quickly saw and heard Christian Democrat leaders stepping up to the plate.

Angela Merkel's former health minister, Jens Spahn, denounced "

 ".

The president of the Christian Democratic Party also had very harsh words, rather unusual in a country where, apart from the far right, debates on immigration are less passionate or controversial than elsewhere.

Conservatives also attacked the city of Berlin, " 

" for the boss of Bavaria, Markus Söder. 

Finally, we must remember that we are voting again next month in Berlin for the regional parliament and that this violence comes at the right time for the Christian Democrats.

But if they do too much, they could also favor the far right.

Finally, the popular press supports this campaign, starting with the

newspaper which headlined “Enough” the day before yesterday. 

A faster procedure for these cases of assault

A majority of Germans condemn unacceptable violence, a fortiori against firefighters and rescuers.

The left wants faster and exemplary prosecutions against the perpetrators of such attacks, but also stresses that, more than the origin of young people, it is the social and cultural problems that must be fought.

People of foreign origin such as elected Christian Democrats point out that many immigrants in these difficult neighborhoods are the first victims of this violence and denounce it.

A firefighter on site on Saturday December 31, 2022, himself of Turkish origin, gave numerous interviews and pointed out that many of the young attackers were of foreign origin.

The Mayor of Berlin, the Social Democrat Franziska Giffey, who in the past led the district of Neukölln where the majority of the violence took place, would have done well without these debates a few weeks before the elections.

She wants to organize a summit on youth violence and pleads for a policy combining an outstretched hand and firmness. 

►Also read: "Migrant gangs" behind the New Year's violence in Berlin?

Watch out for these videos taken out of context.

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