Crime - After knife attack in fan zone: Hagel demands consequences
The stabbing attack in the Stuttgart EM-Fanzone resulting in three injured persons has given a new push to the debate about such attacks by foreigners. According to the Baden-Württemberg CDU state chairman Manuel Hagel, politics must draw consequences from the increasing number of attacks with knives and limit illegal immigration to Germany. "It's time for us to face some uncomfortable truths, facts in hand and without foam at the mouth," Hagel said on Friday.
The reason for the increasing number of stabbing attacks, from the CDU's perspective, is a lack of integration. "We are pushing the system to its limits. Integration will only work if we limit illegal immigration," Hagel had already demanded in the SWR program "Zur Sache Baden-Württemberg" on Thursday evening.
A 25-year-old man is suspected of seriously injuring a German and two Turks with a knife during the Public Viewing of the UEFA European Football Championship match between Turkey and the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening. The alleged perpetrator, according to police reports, holds a Syrian passport and is currently in investigative detention.
According to the police crime statistics, the number of stabbing attacks increased from 2727 cases in 2022 to 3104 cases in the previous year. The proportion of suspects without German citizenship increased from 1333 to 1612 - that is, more than 55 percent of all suspects. Around 41 percent of foreign suspects are under 21 years old.
From Hagel's perspective, too many people are coming to Baden-Württemberg from abroad who are not "constitutionally minded and willing." They have no respect for state institutions, teachers, or police officers and civil servants. "If my wife were at the state theater and she were to run to the station, across the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart, I would tell my wife Franzi, take a taxi," Hagel said, whose party governs in Baden-Württemberg with the Greens.
The Zurich criminologist Dirk Baier disagrees with the CDU politician. Criminality has nothing to do with origin, Baier said in the SWR program. "It has something to do with living conditions," Baier said. Many young people with foreign roots have poorer professional prospects due to a lack of education.
- In response to the knife attack in the Stuttgart EM-Fanzone, political figures are calling for integration measures to address the increasing number of such incidents, particularly by limiting illegal immigration.
- The CDU party chairman for Baden-Württemberg, Manuel Hagel, believes that the lack of integration is a contributing factor to the rise in stabbing attacks, and has argued for stricter immigration policies.
- The alleged perpetrator of the stabbing attack in the Fan zone, a 25-year-old man with a Syrian passport, is currently in investigative detention, according to police reports.
- Hagel expressed concern over the high proportion of foreign suspects in stabbing attacks, stating that many migrants coming to Baden-Württemberg lack a "constitutionally minded and willing" attitude and do not respect state institutions.
- Criminologist Dirk Baier, however, disagrees with Hagel's perspective, arguing that criminality should not be attributed to origin but rather to living conditions, and that many young people with foreign roots face poorer professional prospects due to a lack of education.
