German Greens party co-leader Ricarda Lang has said that she would not walk through a Berlin park infamous for drug trafficking, sparking outrage across German media as many say it is her party that is responsible for turning the area into a crime hot-spot.
Görlitzer Park, known locally as “Görli”, is an official “tolerance zone” for drug use. While a previous centre-right city administration had attempted to crack-down on drug use in the park, a later Berlin coalition of Greens and Socialists rolled back those efforts.
When asked in an interview if she would stroll through the park at night, Lang replied “not at the moment, no”.
The issue has become heated as many say the park is a crime black-spot. One reporter claimed that Görli has witnessed 21 cases of sexual assault in the first six months of 2023.
One incident made headlines after a 27-year-old woman was gang-raped there. Both the victim and her partner were assaulted, injured and robbed by the attackers, and her partner was forced to watch the brutal sex crime unfold.
The attackers were all believed to belong to a local drug-dealing gang. So far it is reported that two have been arrested by the Berlin police. Both are described as 22 years of age, one of Somali origin and another hailing from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.
Located in the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg – known for its thriving artistic subculture and alternative lifestyles – Görlitzer Park has been long touted as an example of Berlin’s cosmopolitan and laissez-faire society.
But, the ongoing crime streak is now raising questions over the city’s liberal approach to law and order.
Besides its history of supporting an eased drug policy in Berlin, the Greens are also in favour of accommodating high levels of migration. So much so that when the party’s Social Democrat coalition partners signed off on the European Union’s new Migration Pact, it almost toppled the government because the reforms were seen as too harsh on prospective immigrants.
The current Christian Democratic Union-led government of Berlin has advocated that security cameras be set up in the park.
One commentator criticised what he said was the “hypocrisy” of the local Kreuzberg authorities, which put efforts into creating safe spaces for women and yet left a huge criminal “danger zone” in the town’s centre.
