AActivists of the “last generation” have once again stuck themselves to a street in Berlin and Munich during a climate protest and blocked traffic. As announced, the group started their protest action on Monday morning. In Munich, according to the police, nine people stuck to the road at Karlsplatz. They wore safety vests and drew attention to their climate policy demands with posters. The traffic was diverted, the disabilities were described as “moderate”. About 50 officers are on duty, it said.
The group said on Twitter that among the demonstrators there were many who had already been in prison for a month and some had been sentenced to heavy fines. As a police spokesman said on Monday, the city of Munich had issued a conditional notice for the meeting after the activist group had announced. However, sticking to the street violated these requirements. There are currently no plans to break up the protest.
In Berlin, the police initially registered a protest action in front of the main train station on Invalidenstrasse with seven people. A spokeswoman said five of them had stuck to the roadway. Further campaigns followed on Wilhelmstrasse, at the corner of Hallesches Ufer and Potsdamer Strasse, at the corner of Varian-Fry-Strasse. According to the police, four activists were stuck there. The Berlin traffic information center spoke of another protest action on the B1 in the Tiergarten area near Stresemannstraße, which caused traffic jams.
The “Last Generation” had announced further and increased disruptive actions starting this week. In the past few weeks, activists have blocked roads, damaged works of art and paralyzed air traffic at BER Airport in Berlin. In Bavaria, some were jailed as a precautionary measure because they had announced further disturbances. Among other things, the group is demanding a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour on motorways and a 9-euro train ticket for the whole of Germany.
Reul: “The state cannot just look on”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said on Deutschlandfunk on Monday morning that the state had to be very vigilant with climate activists and, after a thorough examination, might have to take a tougher approach. “The state cannot just watch and let it continue,” Reul said on Deutschlandfunk on Monday morning. The actions of the “Last Generation” are no longer about individual spontaneous acts, but there is a nationwide tight organization.
Among these activists are some left-wing extremists “who say it’s about much more than that, it’s about overcoming the system”. But one cannot suspect everyone. “There are a lot of people who have a normal, good concern,” but “haven’t quite understood that we have rules that you have to follow,” said Reul. The climate movement “Fridays for Future” is different, its supporters have generally complied with the statutory limits. With the “last generation”, on the other hand, limits have been crossed.
Last week, the conference of interior ministers agreed to draw up a situation report by April and thus learn more about the group. From Reul’s point of view, that’s important. With their organized approach, the group “comes close to being suspected of being a criminal organization.” Before you make such an announcement, you have to do a thorough check.
The head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, had recently struck a moderate note. He had said that he did not currently recognize that the group was directed against the free-democratic basic order. Therefore, she is not an object of observation for the protection of the constitution.
