North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul has announced that a massive police presence is planned during the upcoming carnival celebrations in his federal state. Reul told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper that a total of around 62,000 police officers will be deployed in the state on the days of the carnival events. The reason for this is the threat of attacks by Islamists.
Reul emphasised to media representatives that the risk of attacks has rarely been as high as it is today – which is due to the global political situation surrounding the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine. He encouraged the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia to celebrate carnival without worries despite the security concerns and advised them to report any suspicious activities to the police.
Due to security concerns, in particular due to sexual assaults during last year’s carnival, the traditional children’s carnival parade in Duisburg will avoid the Marxloh district this year.
There were delays there due to a fire brigade operation, during which several young men sexually harassed minors and took photos of girls under their skirts.
Deutschland: Karneval soll vor Islamisten geschützt werden – UnserTirol24