The German CSU Party calls for financial consequences for Berlin after New Year’s riots The German CSU Party calls for financial consequences for Berlin after New Year’s riots

After the New Year’s Eve riots in Berlin, the Bavarian CSU party is demanding financial consequences for the government in the German capital if necessary.

If the state of Berlin is still politically unwilling and unwilling to enforce the law in the capital, then there must be financial sanctions, Bundestag CSU head Alexander Dobrindt said Friday at the start of the CSU state’s winter retreat group in the Upper Bavarian monastery Seeon. The financial equalization of the federal states would be the possible lever for this, he emphasized. This instrument creates a balance between the economically weaker and stronger of the 16 German states.

The CSU (Christian Social Union) is the Bavarian sister party of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany), the combination of the two is called Union. Until the 2021 federal election, the Union ruled Germany under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel for 16 years with changing partners.

On New Year’s Eve, police officers and firefighters were attacked in several German cities, including with fireworks and rockets. The attacks in Berlin were particularly violent. According to authorities, many of those temporarily arrested were young men with a migration background.

Dobrindt also demanded that there should be no integration debate, but a rule of law debate. “Berlin must be able to enforce the law on the street.” The senate in Berlin has not fulfilled this responsibility for a long time. Instead, efforts are now being made to “proxy debates about social work or about banning fireworks,” Dobrindt said. It is now about sanctions and the implementation of sanctions. It needs “maximum punishment” for the “incredibly violent criminals”.

CSU boss Markus Söder also said there were numerous examples “where the state of Berlin does not work”. This cannot continue in the future. In Berlin, the election for the House of Representatives must be repeated after the state’s constitutional court declared the 2021 election invalid due to many disruptions and “serious systemic shortcomings”. The New Year’s Eve riots and the debate over possible solutions coincide with the start of the election campaign for the polls scheduled for February 12. (saw/sda/dpa)