Berlin mayor pledges hard line on New Year's troublemakers

Berlin police will take a hard line on troublemakers during New Year's celebrations in the German capital, Mayor Kai Wegner told dpa in an interview published on Sunday.

"Anyone causing a disturbance or committing a crime will feel the force of the law," he said.

"It is important to us that everyone is able to celebrate, that everyone can have fun, but when it comes to crime, the police will intervene extremely consistently and very robustly as in years past," Wegner said.

He said that Berlin's police had been preparing for New Year's Eve for months, were well-equipped and would be out in force on the streets. "We will do everything to ensure that the night will be peaceful and happy, as we ring in the New Year," Wegner said.

Throwing illegal fireworks into crowds or at police was a crime, Wegner noted, expressing the hope that this could be prevented. He added that large quantities of illegal fireworks had been seized over recent weeks.

Turning to the ongoing debate on a fireworks ban, Wegner said: "A fireworks ban will only work if there is a general ban on sales." A ban restricted to Berlin would merely lead people to buy fireworks in the neighbouring state, he added.

"There has then to be a fireworks ban in all of Germany, but there is no majority for this among the federal states," Wegner said.

Berlin would continue to back stronger regulation at the German and EU levels, he said, noting that larger fireworks were already banned.