German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has supported a tough response to those responsible for violence during weekend youth protests in several cities. In excerpts from a speech prepared for a CDU district chairpersons’ conference, Merz said violence had no place on the streets and that offenders who attacked police and emergency workers or looted shops would face the full force of the law.
At the same time, Merz said the majority of young people had demonstrated peacefully. He described their political engagement and concern about the future as a positive message, while acknowledging shortcomings in affordable housing. He also said households needed relief so that Germany’s states could invest more in education. Education Minister Karin Prien is expected to continue talks with the younger generation.
The weekend demonstrations involved tens of thousands of young people. In Frankfurt, clashes included stones and incendiary bottles being thrown, shop windows being destroyed and looting. More than 100 police officers were injured. There were also confrontations in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin, although they were reportedly less severe than in Frankfurt. Authorities in Frankfurt are investigating 54 people, and an 18-year-old Syrian national was placed in pre-trial detention on suspicion of stealing a weapon from a shop.
The political debate has focused on statements by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and other Union politicians about the identity of those involved in the violence. Dobrindt referred to violent left-wing groups and “migrant troublemakers,” while Hesse’s Interior Minister Roman Poseck said the group of suspects had been predominantly shaped by migration backgrounds.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius criticised the lack of clarity surrounding such descriptions. The SPD politician questioned whether the term “migrant groups” included people who had lived in Germany for three generations and were German citizens, arguing that the debate was heading in the wrong direction.
Prien defended Dobrindt, saying that the violence had involved radical left-wing groups as well as people who apparently came from migrant communities. She said the aim should not be to encourage resentment, but to examine the reality of the events and understand why people resorted to violence.
Green and Left Party politicians accused Union representatives of collectively devaluing people with migration histories in order to distract from unresolved problems. Green Party leader Felix Banaszak said the debate marked part of the population as not truly belonging. Left Party leader Luigi Pantisano called it an attempt to blame a particular group and fuel hostility towards migrants.
The Green Youth’s co-leader Luis Bobga said it made no sense to treat people with migration backgrounds as a homogeneous group. He also accused the government of ignoring concerns associated with the protests, including high rents, a shortage of therapy places, deteriorating schools and opposition to compulsory military service.
Police statistics can provide information about a suspect’s nationality, but they do not record whether someone is the grandchild of an immigrant. Germany’s Federal Statistical Office defines a migration background as applying when a person or at least one parent was not born with German citizenship. Around 31 percent of Germany’s population is reported to have such a background, compared with around 58 percent in Frankfurt.
Sources: Handelsblatt.