There have recently been riots and street battles at events organized by German Eritrean associations. The Central Council of Eritreans in Germany has announced a large demonstration in Berlin for Friday. The federal chairman of the police union fears violent counter-protests and speaks of an extreme strain on the police.
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Berlin. Will there be street battles again? Some fear this in view of the announcement of a large demonstration by the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany for next Friday in Berlin. According to the police, 1,500 participants are registered and want to demonstrate for “preservation and respect for our fundamental rights”. In recent weeks and months there have been brutal riots between supporters of the clubs and critics of the Eritrean regime, at events held by Eritrean associations close to the government in German cities such as Stuttgart and Giessen.
“We hope that there will be strong requirements for the demonstration,” said Jochen Kopelke, federal chairman of the police union (GdP), to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “It is obvious that there will be counter-protests again if you look at how people have mobilized against such events in the past.” This is also “guaranteed” to happen for the demo on Friday in Berlin, even if the Berlin police have so far no counter-demonstrations have been registered. “I can only hope that the authorities have learned from Giessen and Stuttgart,” said Kopelke.
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Police see no concrete risk of escalation
“We have no concrete information that similar incidents will occur as in Stuttgart,” a police spokesman told the Berliner Morgenpost. Nevertheless, we will keep an eye on how the situation develops.
The meeting was organized by the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany. V. under the title “The preservation and respect of our fundamental rights. as well as the protection of our cultural and social gatherings”. Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. the demonstrators want to walk from Sharounplatz via Potsdamer Platz, Unter den Linden to Willy-Brandt-Straße.