Berlin [Germany], January 8: Berlin Mayor FranziskaGiffey has rejected criticism from Bavarian Premier Markus Soder that Berlin is becoming a city of chaos after violence on New Year's Eve saw 145 people arrested for attacking police and firefighters in the capital.
"If 145 chaotic people mess up in a metropolis of almost 4 million people, you cannot conclude that all the other inhabitants here are also chaotic," the Social Democrat politician told Saturday's edition of the local newspaper Berliner Zeitung.
"Bavaria, too, has to get its own house in order, for example in matters relating to the Reich Citzens movement - and I'm not givingSoder any advice." Giffey was referring to a diffuse group of people who do not recognize the authority of Germany's current system of government. Known in German as Reichsbürger, 25 of them were arrested in nationwide raids on December 7 for planning to violently overthrow the government. On New Year's Eve, police officers and firefighters were attacked in several German cities, including with firecrackers and rockets. The attacks were particularly violent in some neighbourhoods of Berlin.
Soder said after the violence: "Berlin is unfortunately developing into a city of chaos - starting with politics, which can neither organize elections nor guarantee the safety of its citizens." The conservative Bavarian premier was referring to the 2021 election to the state government of Berlin, the House of Representatives, which has to be repeated because of numerous irregularities.
Source: Qatar Tribune