A Luxembourg City restaurateur is demanding a zero-tolerance policy on crime after his Italian restaurant was burgled this week, the latest in a string of incidents he says are plaguing the capital.

On the night of 27 August, a burglary was reported at Italian restaurant Partigiano, located on Rue de Strasbourg in Luxembourg City’s Gare district. According to the police, an individual broke into the restaurant and stole the cash register. Thanks to the vigilance of a neighbour and the swift intervention of police, the suspect was quickly arrested and brought before an investigating judge in the afternoon, who ordered his pre-trial detention, the police wrote in their bulletin.

"It doesn't stop and it's not just me: right now, everyone is getting robbed. It's becoming unbearable", asserted Partigiano owner Alexandre De Toffol, co-founder of the Blacksheep group, which operates several restaurants in Luxembourg, mainly in the capital.

In conversation with RTL, De Toffol shared insights on the burglary: "One of the neighbours saw the incident, filmed the burglar, called the police, and handed over the surveillance footage. The police were able to arrest the suspect nearby. We got the cash register back, he didn't manage to open it. But a large window was smashed, which costs money, and I had to stay on site until six in the morning. It's not the first time this has happened."

The restaurateur was able to reopen his establishment as early as Wednesday morning, after urgent repairs.

But the anger remains undiminished. In a message posted on Facebook, De Toffol listed recent incidents in the capital and called for radical change. He specifically mentioned an incident at another of the group's restaurants, Munchies – a burger place in the capital – where an employee had his phone stolen ten days ago. "The phone was found in Brussels", he noted.

Demanding a 'zero-tolerance policy'

De Toffol also set up a WhatsApp group bringing together numerous business owners to warn each other about thefts, pickpockets, or drug users' behaviour in the streets. He denounced: "You see them roaming around the city. You even see some taking drugs right in the street, in front of children. Something happens every day. Two weeks ago, the owner of a bar had his phone stolen, and a similar incident occurred in a brasserie on Place d'Armes as well.”

While the restaurateur – who is also a member of the Democratic Party (DP) – praised "the excellent work of the police", he insisted on the need for tougher security measures to protect business owners and residents of the capital.

According to De Toffol, "we must understand that a lax approach toward criminals is ineffective: a zero-tolerance policy is necessary, and it must start now. Restaurants have become hotspots for burglars. People who don't respect the rules should be imprisoned or banned from staying in Luxembourg. We must protect those who work and pay their taxes – not the other way around."

The restaurateur further asserted that Luxembourg would ne "losing its attractiveness" and that things "cannot continue like this".