European cities running scared London, Berlin, Brussels alert for riots
BERLIN: Images of French ghettos in flames are causing discomfort across Europe and have raised fears the violence could spread across borders. London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels and other cities with large immigrant populations are on the lookout for any signs of copycats of the urban violence that has engulfed Paris and other French cities, destroying cars, shops and schools. So far there have been only isolated reports of wanton violence beyond France’s borders – five cars set on fire in Berlin on Sunday and six in the western German city of Bremen. Leaders in Britain, Germany and elsewhere point to unique circumstances in France that make it less likely that they will face similar rioting. But there are nevertheless potential powder kegs in countries with large foreign populations. “Everybody’s concerned at what is happening,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday. “I send every support to the French government and to the French people in dealing with the situation. You should never be complacent about these things, although I think our situation is in some ways different.” “The conditions in France are different from what we have here,” said Wolfgang Schaeuble, designated interior minister in the new German government. “There is no way violence as intense as in France would hit Germany or most other European countries,” Nadeem Elyas, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said. In Rome, opposition leader Romano Prodi was accused of inciting violence for saying Italian cities might soon suffer the sort of rioting afflicting France. He said the government needed to take urgent action to improve life in Italy’s more deprived suburbs if it wanted to stave off future trouble. In the Netherlands, where almost 20 per cent of the population is of foreign descent, the riots in France are also being closely monitored. “We really don’t need to be afraid that the Netherlands or Europe will be in flames within a few weeks,” Han Entzinger, professor of migration and integration studies at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told the Algemeen Dagblad daily. “In France there is an explosive mixture,” he added. “The apartment blocks in the suburbs were put up for the newcomers. That is a big difference to here. Our immigrants ended up in existing districts and houses of much better quality.” – Reuters
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