Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) has sharply criticized the Berlin CDU for querying the first names of young people in Berlin who are suspects of firecracker attacks. Giffey said at an election campaign event of the Berlin SPD on Monday in the Wintergarten-Varieté: “That’s an absurd debate. Where do the negative names start and where do they end? Does that mean the policeman because his name is Ali, or what?”
Many migrants were shocked by the incidents on New Year’s Eve. “We mustn’t lump people together, no matter what their name is, we have to differentiate,” said Giffey. The SPD stands for a policy that does not split people in Berlin “into those with the right name and those with the wrong one”. Giffey also criticized her green coalition partners for dealing with New Year’s Eve. “The Greens are suddenly very quiet,” she said.
Berlin’s governing mayor again sharply condemned the “terrible events of the night”. “Longtime responders have looked down the open barrel of a handgun as they exited the ambulance and didn’t know if it was a real gun,” Giffey said. “These acts must be pursued consistently.” She also wants to invest more money in youth work, which she has already discussed with Finance Senator Daniel Wesener (Greens).
Giffey received support from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Monday. In his speech to the candidates of the Berlin SPD, who had gathered in the winter garden, he defended Berlin against criticism from the CSU in Bavaria.
“Even if word of it hasn’t gotten around everywhere, economic growth has been greater in Berlin than in Bavaria in recent years,” said Scholz at the election campaign event. “Franziska Giffey did a very good job here. It’s about solving problems and addressing them clearly,” he said, referring to New Year’s Eve. “Thank you for this clear stance and for the leadership. Franziska, you are the right one!”
The Berlin CDU reacted to the events of New Year’s Eve by asking the first names of the Berlin suspects. Top candidate Kai Wegner had previously defended his party’s query. According to the police, most of the adolescents and young adults have German citizenship.
The CDU now apparently wants to use their first names to check how many of them could have foreign ancestors. So far, there has only been such a query from the AfD: In 2019, the party asked in Saarland for the names of so-called knife stabbers. At the top: Michael, Daniel and Andreas.
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