New Year's Eve in Berlin: After the firecrackers, the smoke candles are now lit

Created: 01/04/2023 05:22

By: Georg Anastasiadis

Firefighters extinguish a coach in Berlin that had been set on fire by unknown persons on New Year's Eve.

Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis comments on the brutal attacks at the turn of the year in the capital.

© Pauk Zinken/dpa

After Cologne, Berlin's New Year's Eve shocked the Germans.

Because it throws a glaring spotlight on the consequences of migration and failed integration.

Not everyone wants to admit that.

A commentary by Georg Anastasiadis.

The smoke from Berlin's brutal New Year's Eve has cleared.

Smoke candles are now being thrown to cover up what can no longer be denied after this orgy of violence by predominantly Arab groups of young men: Berlin has a problem with violence – and Germany has an integration problem.

Franziska Giffey, the SPD mayor of the city in which an angry mob on New Year's Eve provoked civil war-like conditions, calls for a "nationwide debate" about the attacks on police officers and paramedics - and forgets to mention that her Berlin is not for nothing has become the epicenter of migrant violence with almost 60 injured emergency services because the red-red-green Senate notoriously distrusts its law enforcement officers more than rioters.

Berlin New Year's Eve riots: A manifestation of contempt for our perceived as defenseless state

The left-wing Berlin Senator for Culture demands a "complete ban on selling firecrackers" (as if that's what it was!) - and attacks the FPD, whose ideal of freedom would probably mean that such a ban would fail.

What an infamous omission!

And then Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser threatens the perpetrators “with the full force of the law” – and at the same time manages to spread a cloak of silence about their identity for days, because she shies away from the migration discussion that then inevitably follows.

However, without clear naming of the facts, there can be no debate about the causes and consequences of the violence.

What happened on New Year's Eve in Berlin was a manifestation of contempt for our perceived defenseless state and its uniformed representatives and an attack on our community that could not be surpassed in terms of disrespect.

Anyone who prefers to talk about bans on firecrackers instead of about integration, migration and more protection for our police officers and paramedics wants to distract from the truth and is playing into the hands of the clans who want to turn Berlin and other problem areas into battlefields.

George Anastasiadis