The attack against Pride in Berlin, which the police have attributed to an Islamist, is an attack against freedom and tolerance, and a reminder of the danger of fanaticism for coexistence in democratic countries. The events occurred after ten o’clock on Saturday night in the Tiergarten park area, when a vehicle crashed into the crowd celebrating the so-called Christopher Street Day in the German capital. One woman died and 16 people were injured, three seriously. The alleged perpetrator, identified as Abdul B., 21, is at large. By striking one of Europe’s largest festive and protest events for LGTBIQ+ rights, this terrorist act targets what represents the strength of our societies, the core of human progress and freedoms.
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Berlin has been celebrating Christopher Street Day for 48 years and until now had always done so peacefully. It is a day of affirmation in the streets and at the same time a fight for equality before the law in a city with a long tradition as a space of freedom and tolerance, dating back at least to the 1920s. Pride parades, which have been celebrated in recent weeks in cities around the world, commemorate June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York. A police raid against that gay bar sparked a protest that would soon become the symbol of the struggle for civil rights, a fight still unfinished. This is demonstrated by legal limitations or the suppression of LGTBIQ+ rights in countries like Russia, the stigmatization exercised by radical groups or parties in Europe, or, more seriously, the reality of places like Saudi Arabia or Iran, where homosexuality can lead to the death penalty.
It is already disturbing that in an EU country like Romania there is a city where the Pride parade is prohibited, as happened this weekend in the municipality of Oradea. But it is even more serious that in 2026 participating in this demonstration in a European capital could be paid with one’s life. If, as German authorities suspect, the Islamist background of the criminal hit-and-run in Berlin is confirmed, it will be proof that the danger of this violent ideology has not disappeared after the massive attacks of the first two decades of the 21st century, from Madrid to Paris. For some years now, and with the weakening of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the threat has mutated. It no longer usually acts with complex operations and a high capacity for death and destruction, but with perpetrators who tend to act on their own and with rudimentary weapons such as knives or cars.
The priority now is to investigate the facts thoroughly to clarify whether the main suspect acted alone or was linked to any terrorist organization and to know all the details about their motivations. This is the second vehicle attack in Berlin after the one that killed 13 people at a Christmas market in 2016. Therefore, it is necessary for law enforcement and intelligence services to heighten vigilance, although absolute security does not exist, especially at public events like Christopher Street Day. It is precisely the rights to freedom of expression and demonstration and to equality that those who perpetrate these attacks want to destroy. This includes those of minorities, including religious ones, on behalf of whom fanatics always claim to speak. The only response is not to allow them to intimidate or divide us. That would be their greatest victory and the defeat of democracy.
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