By Stefanie Dazio and Pietro de Cristofaro
Munich: Officials are warning revellers to expect longer lines to enter this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich as metal detectors are deployed for the first time in the Bavarian beer festival’s 189-year history.
Authorities say there are no specific threats to the world’s largest folk festival, which begins on Saturday with the traditional keg-tapping in Munich and runs through to October 6. Some 6 million participants, many wearing traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses, are expected over the course of the event.
Young people celebrate the opening of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany.Credit: AP
The stepped-up security comes after an August 23 attack in Solingen that left three people dead and eight wounded. A 26-year-old Syrian suspect was arrested. He was an asylum seeker who was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the violence.
The violence left Germany shaken and pushed immigration back to the top of the political agenda. In response, the Interior Ministry extended temporary border controls to all nine of its frontiers this week. The controls are set to last six months and are threatening to test European unity.
At Oktoberfest, hand-held metal detectors will be used for the first time, with police and security staff using them on a random basis or following suspicious activity.
“We have had to react to the fact that attacks with knives have increased in recent weeks and months,” Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said. “We will do everything we can to ensure that nobody comes to Oktoberfest with a knife or other dangerous weapons.”
In addition to 600 police officers and 2000 security staff, more than 50 CCTV cameras will be installed across the grounds of the festival, which will be fenced off as well. Festival goers are prohibited from bringing knives, glass bottles and backpacks.
Oktoberfest is no stranger to increased security in the past. In 2016, authorities implemented tighter measures in response to a series of attacks, including when a German teenager fatally shot nine people at a Munich mall before killing himself.
Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King’s College London, said Oktoberfest officials were taking a sensible approach to security in light of Solingen, as well as other recent foiled plots across Europe. Extremists and groups like the Islamic State seek locations where an attack would garner international headlines and “cause a lot of terror”, he said.
The festival’s organiser, Clemens Baumgärtner, promised a safe public space, possibly “the safest place in Germany” during the 16 days of the festival.
AP
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