Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst has described as "absurd" the level of policing needed on New Year's Eve to contain violence and vandalism.

The number of reported incidents related to last week's New Year celebrations has risen to 4329. Although that is less than the previous year, there were more cases of violence against police, firemen and ambulance personnel. Mayor Jozias van Aartsen of The Hague, a city notorious for its rowdy end-of-year celebrations with huge fires on many street corners, said to daily de Volkskrant, "I can't describe it as an event. The arrival of the New Year in The Hague is a crisis situation which persists for a number of hours."

Minister Ter Horst has asked witnesses of incidents to come forward with pictures and videos which may lead to the perpetrators being caught. She has also called on mayors to administer conditional punishment on troublemakers, in order to prevent them from repeating their misdemeanor on the next New Year's Eve.

The new year is traditionally welcomed by fireworks all over the country, followed by all-night parties. In the first hours of 2010, an estimated 68 million euros-worth of fireworks was let off, occasionally causing severe injury to bystanders, a steep rise in air pollution, and substantial fire damage.

Amsterdam's Nieuwmarkt square after New Year's Eve party (ANP Photo)