Ten days before the start of the 2024 European Championship in Germany, the national Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, has called for the tournament to be used as an opportunity to come together.
This is important, especially in these “times of external and internal threats,” she said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul.
Germany wants to be a good host, Faser said. It’s about hopefully celebrating a ‘peaceful festival of football’. In a free society there can never be 100% security, but “we are doing our best,” she said.
Reul mentioned the overall high workload for police forces during the tournament from June 14 to July 14.
“It won’t be a walk in the park,” he said.
Four of the ten venues are in his state and in addition to the areas surrounding the venues, the teams and the fan zones, his police forces will also have to be present at a federal conference of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) far away. right party in Essen.
The event will take place on the last weekend of June as a “little extra treat,” Reul said, which has already attracted numerous counter-protesters. North Rhine-Westphalia will probably need troops from other states.
“The security situation is tense,” Faeser said.
Germany has seen a domestic political debate over security and the threat of extremist violence amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as the far right stands to make significant gains in the upcoming European Parliament elections.
However, there are no concrete indications of planned attacks during the euro. The tournament starts on June 14 when hosts Germany play Scotland in Munich and the final is on July 14 in Berlin.
