Violence was rife yet again in many major Western European cities on New Year’s Eve, with rioting, brawling, attacks on emergency services, and the burning of cars becoming regular attractions in migrant-majority districts.
As we reported on Tuesday, January 2nd, German authorities and politicians are describing scenes of violence on New Year’s Eve as the “new normal”, after yet another night of crimes committed on the streets of Berlin and other cities.
Authorities in France were also keen to highlight how a minor drop in the number of arrests and the number of police officers injured was a “success.” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the 380 arrests made nationwide overnight was a 10% drop compared with a year ago. Authorities counted 745 vehicle fires, also 10% fewer than last year, and about 40 police officers suffered slight injuries, a 40% drop. The burning of cars is a regular occurrence in the migrant-majority districts of Paris on New Year’s Eve, and also during riots and celebrations.
London police officers also had their fair share of work on Sunday night. A 16-year-old boy, who was with a group of friends celebrating, was stabbed to death in north London when he became involved in an altercation “with devastating consequences.” The victim was the 22nd teenager to be killed in London in 2023, eighteen of whom died as the result of stabbing.
Elsewhere in the city, a group of men clashed in central London in front of terrified families with children during New Year’s Eve celebrations. On Westminster Bridge, a small number of people were treated for minor injuries after a crowd of people without tickets forced their way past barriers to watch the main fireworks display, with the police unable to stop them.
Dozens of police officers were injured in the Netherlands as well, with more than 200 people arrested after rioting. Police in several cities were attacked with fireworks and stones. In Rotterdam more than 100 cars and other vehicles had been set on fire, while in Amsterdam, The Hague and other cities, riot squads were needed to disperse violent crowds. Riot squads were also used throughout the country to assist fire brigades who were attacked with fireworks while they tried to put out numerous fires.
Peije de Meij, in charge of coordinating the police response, said:
It is completely unacceptable. This is the reality we operate in during New Year’s Eve, year in year out.
In Huizen, the village of Poortugaal and in Amsterdam West, police were brought in to break up groups “wearing balaclavas.” “Balaclavas have nothing to do with a party. It is totally out of order to go out looking for confrontation with the police,” De Meij said.
In Belgium, more than 140 people were arrested in Brussels and about 60 in Antwerp, a figure twice as high as the previous year. In some districts of Antwerp, fireworks were directed at police officers.
A few incidents were also reported in the Italian city of Milan, particularly in the San Siro district, where police arrested young people who on several occasions piled up furniture before setting it on fire, and damaged a police vehicle. Police were heavily deployed in the centre of the city, carrying out checks, and seizing explosives and weapons. Preparations were deemed necessary after New Year’s Eve in 2022 when a dozen women were sexually assaulted by a group of men, identified as foreigners or Italians of North African origin.
