Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) calls for a quick clarification of the New Year’s Eve riots.Image: dpa / Kay Nietfeld
politics
The turn of the year 22/23 has burned itself into the minds of the republic with frightening images. Missiles flying back and forth, a burning coach, attacks on emergency services. The situation has escalated in many major German cities – the pictures from Berlin were the most blatant.
Immediately afterwards, an integration debate broke out. The Union in particular has zeroed in on the question of the nationality of the perpetrators. In the Berlin Senate, the parliamentary group requested a list of first names. So they wanted to find out who of the 44 suspects is actually German – and who “only” has a German passport.
A coach caught fire in Berlin on New Year’s Eve.Image: dpa / Paul tines
And the New Year’s Eve riots are also a hot topic in the first week of the German Bundestag session. The request for this comes from the Union faction – and from the speeches of the Christian Democrats it can be deduced: They are dissatisfied with the security policy of the traffic light. Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens), however, expresses a suspicion as to what is really behind the Union’s initiative.
In her speech, Paus makes it clear that the answer to the question of where the escalation is coming from is more complicated. A list of first names is not enough, instead there are many reasons for youth violence. The formula is not: migrant. But: Young, male, situational. Group dynamics gave rise to feelings of power in certain situations.
For family minister Lisa Paus it is clear: The reasons for the riots on New Year’s Eve are manifold. Image: dpa / Kay Nietfeld
There are riots not only in Neukölln, but also by hooligans at football games or on Mallorca’s Ham Street. “The issue is complex,” explains Paus, adding: “The Union is trying to ethnicize social issues.”
For Paus, it is clear why the CDU/CSU parliamentary group is so involved in the integration debate: From the minister’s point of view, the sister parties are already eyeing the elections in Berlin, Bremen and Bavaria. Nevertheless, the Green politician makes it clear that solutions must be found. In the future, for example, there could be fireworks-free zones in order to provide targeted relief. At the same time, social work must be strengthened. Paus is certain that the Democracy Promotion Act will also help.
Rapid prosecution instead of regulars’ slogans
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) does not want to know anything about first names either. He himself is called like the son of an Italian immigrant family, he makes clear. However, he is not Italian. It is now much more important to clarify the crimes quickly. To quickly hold the perpetrators accountable. With “dissuasive and appropriate penalties”.
Buschmann explains the claim of the federal government as follows:
“The Progress Coalition has made it clear that we will not pursue criminal and criminal law policy on the basis of prejudices or perceived truths, but rather on the basis of evidence and scientific methods.”
He also makes it clear: Criminal law policy is too important to be pursued at the “level of regulars’ slogans”.
Buschmann received praise for his execution from an unexpected source. Alexander Throm (CDU) congratulates the minister on his “law and order speech”. The CDU politician makes it clear that the FDP must fear being pulled down in the red-green pull. Despite Buschmann’s speech, however, it seems that Throm is unhappy with the execution of the traffic light members.
For the CDU politician it is clear: the coalition does not want to face the integration debate pushed by the Union. Rather, the parties are left of center – by which he means left, green and SPD – to blame for the distrust and disrespect towards the police within the population.
The fear of poverty in old age accompanies many young people. Long before they even get close to retirement. The sentence often comes up in conversations: “Oh, by the time we retire, we’ll drop dead anyway and we won’t get paid anything.”
