Status: 01/18/2023 09:15 a.m
According to a report, there were more than 280 attacks on emergency services nationwide on New Year’s Eve. With around 100 attacks reported, most of them were in Berlin. The riots are also occupying the Bundestag today.
According to a media report, there were at least 282 attacks on police and firefighters nationwide on New Year’s Eve. The “Tagesspiegel” reports, citing its own survey of all 16 interior ministries of the federal states.
However, some federal states such as Hesse and Baden-Württemberg did not give any numbers of attacks on emergency services, which is why the actual number is probably higher. Attacks have also been reported in these states. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the federal states have not yet submitted any official figures to the authority.
102 reported attacks in Berlin
According to the newspaper, the highest number of attacks was in Berlin. Here the police have now confirmed 59 reported attacks against police officers and 43 against the fire brigade and rescue service, it was said. In Lower Saxony, the Ministry of the Interior has confirmed attacks on 42 emergency services, and 42 emergency services were also injured on New Year’s Eve in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were 34 attacks on emergency services in Bavaria. Hamburg also reported a relatively large number of attacks on New Year’s Eve with 19 attacks, it said. In the other federal states, the attacks on emergency services were in the single-digit range.
After the New Year’s Eve riots, which were also directed against police officers, firefighters and rescue workers, a debate broke out about whether there should be an increase in punishment. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) had said that the main thing was to enforce the applicable law and that he “sees no need” for another change in criminal law. A few days ago, however, the Federal Ministry of the Interior wrote to the coalition factions in the Bundestag asking them to consider tightening criminal law.
Keep rioting in discourse
The Berlin police had previously repeatedly corrected the figures for the riots and arrests and are now saying that they “continue to be regarded as provisional”, as a spokesman for the “Tagesspiegel” said.
At the request of the CDU/CSU, the Bundestag is dealing with the riots in its plenary session. Since the incidents on New Year’s Eve, there has been discussion on the one hand about a ban on firecrackers and on the other hand about the violence and its causes and possible countermeasures. The Union and AfD in particular pointed out the role of young men with a migration background in the riots.