On New Year’s Eve, Berlin authorities arrested over 420 individuals due to widespread violence and attacks on emergency responders. This crackdown followed a major deployment of around 3,200 officers, with police noting 2,340 additional incidents during the night. Berlin’s fire brigade attended to 1,830 calls throughout the festivities, according to the State Directorate General of Internal Affairs and Sports.
The tumultuous situations in Berlin echoed occurrences in other European cities, where first responders faced violence and property damage, straining public safety resources into the morning hours. To mitigate such incidents, officials expanded a “fireworks-free zone” prior to the celebrations; the statement emphasized that this move had a role in “preventing crime and injury.” However, disturbances during the night were still significant, resembling last year’s levels.
A police officer was reportedly injured by fireworks, reflecting a worrying trend seen in major cities across Western Europe where security is increasingly compromised, particularly around issues related to immigration.
Before the New Year celebrations, authorities confiscated over 220,000 fireworks, including more than 109,000 categorized as dangerous. This effort was described as a measure to avoid “hundreds of thousands of dangerous explosions.”
Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger, claimed that the majority of residents celebrated without incident, though the city’s police union strongly opposed this view. They stated that characterizing the night as mostly peaceful overlooked numerous targeted assaults on emergency services. The union remarked that launching rockets at emergency vehicles amounted to an attack on the state itself.
Officers indicated that many of the violators were perceived to be of Arab and Turkish descent, with firefighters sometimes needing police protection to operate in the streets.
Patterns of violence noted last year were evident, too. A leaked report indicated that, of the 670 suspects arrested last year, 264 were foreigners, and most of the German nationals had non-traditional names, often of Arab or Muslim origins.
Similar unrest transpired in Belgium and the Netherlands. In Antwerp, police labeled the night as “extremely noisy and dangerous,” with objects such as stones and fireworks tossed from rooftops at emergency vehicles. Around 100 arrests were made, predominantly among those under 20.
In the Netherlands, 250 people were taken into custody nationwide. In Breda, reports included attacks on officers with petrol bombs and paving stones. It was mentioned that some fires had been deliberately set to lure emergency personnel into ambushes for further assaults.
In the wake of these incidents, Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing PVV party, sarcastically questioned the identity of the attackers, reflecting on the overarching issues at play.
In France, rioters set fire to 1,173 cars, a notable increase from the 984 incidents recorded the previous year. Reports suggest that New Year’s Eve has transformed into a night where migrant gangs utilize fireworks to target both emergency workers and civilians across major cities in Western Europe.
Balázs Orbán, political director under Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, stated that the violence in Berlin highlighted a “security breakdown rooted in immigration,” asserting this was an inevitable outcome of years of mass immigration and insufficient enforcement. He criticized Brussels for advocating for transfer quotas and relaxed borders while facilitating compliant governments in member states.
