Germany’s Energy Crisis: Berlin Police Prepare For Mass Rioting, Looting in Wake of Blackouts
As Germany copes with a massive energy crisis, the police in the state of Berlin are preparing for large-scale looting and rioting in the wake of possible blackouts.
The Berlin Police have “secretly” drafted a “anti-chaos paper” outlining the measures needs to contain widespread public unrests and riots this winter, German newspaper Die Berliner Zeitung reported Friday.
The Berlin “police want to be prepared for the state of emergency,” the newspaper wrote citing a leaked internal document. According to the daily, the authorities were gearing up for “looting, unrest and attacks on the critical infrastructure” if the electricity supply collapses.
The largest-selling German newspaper Bild also reported the contents of the leaked police document, describing it as “confidential.”
Die Berliner Zeitung reported the Berlin Police’s 3-phase “Anti-Chao Plan”:
For months, experts at the LKA [Berlin State Criminal Investigation Office] and the state police headquarters have been working on a secret paper on “energy crisis.” A spokesperson for the authorities explained: “The Berlin police are focusing on the possibility of certain reactions from taking pace.” The objective is “to be able to act quickly and effectively to protect people in a possible emergency.”As Die Berliner Zeitung has learned, the [police] concept — on possible “cut backs in the energy supply” — is divided in three escalation levels.Phase 1: Price Increase”The scenario is already being taken for granted,” [the police document] says. The document assumes, among other things, that there will be demonstrations and rallies expressing [public] displeasure.Phase 2: ShortageExperts predict that this could happen in the coming months: energy sources such as electricity and gas will be rationed. It will only be possible to heat, cook and take a warm shower at certain times. This will also pose a problem for the fire department: people have started using fire to heat their homes – this considerably raises the risk of fires breaking out. (…)Phase 3: Power failureAccording to the document, the police is expecting a “partial failure” of the power supply. However, if the so-called blackout occurs: looting, unrest and attacks on the critical infrastructure is expected. ATMs will be out of order, trains and trams will be left standing on the routes, mobile phone networks will break down. (…)The anti-chaos paper is currently being worked out internally by the [law enforcement] agencies. According to the information [acquired by Die Berliner Zeitung], it should be completed by the end of the month at the latest, and submitted to the authorities.
The police plan comes to light almost a week after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threatened to let Europe “freeze” if the European Union tried to put a cap of soaring Russian gas prices.
“Those who are trying to impose something on us are in no position today to dictate their will,” Putin warned European leaders last Thursday. “They should come to their senses,” he added.
Having ignored former U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings over their overdependence of Russian energy, European countries, particularly Germany, kept up investing billions in Russian pipelines — putting their economies at the mercy of Kremlin.
After European countries imposed sanctions on Russian over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been slashing energy supplies to Europe. Earlier this month, Russia severed the gas supply to Europe almost entirely when it closed the Nord Stream pipeline “indefinitely.”
The Russian move sent a shock wave throughout Europe, with Germany passing an nationwide “Energy Saving Decree,” ordering factories, businesses and households to drastically cut back on their consumption of electricity, lighting and heating.
As energy reserves dwindle ahead of a long winter, the German and European governments fear widespread blackouts, public unrest and industrial disruptions in the months to come.
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