On Thursday, activists of the “last generation” paralyzed Berlin’s BER airport for almost two hours – now criticism is pouring down. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote on Twitterthe airport blockade is a “new level of escalation” and “absolutely unacceptable”: “These actions destroy important social acceptance of the fight against climate change.”
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing also sharply criticized the actions of the activists. The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right, but the actions of the group are becoming “more and more unscrupulous,” the FDP politician said. Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen said that the action could not be justified by anything. “I stand by it: anyone who intentionally puts others at risk for their worldview is not an activist, but a criminal,” said the CDU politician.
The blockade is “counterproductive” and harms the cause
The governing parties at both federal and state level are unanimous in condemning the activists: Katja Mast, First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD in the Bundestag, emphasized on Twitter: “Our democracy doesn’t work in such a way that I can achieve my goals in the name of a good cause by any means.” An airport blockade is not a legitimate means. “Celebrating yourself on social media for this is detrimental to the cause as a whole.”
The Greens parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, also criticized the action as “counterproductive, presumptuous and potentially dangerous”. He wrote on Twitter: “Such interventions in the operations of an airport do not serve climate protection. It discredits the most important concern of climate protection.” However, he speaks out against tightening the law – there are enough instruments.
CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja tweeted: “Criminal boundaries were again crossed under the guise of alleged protests. The rule of law knows the instruments to defend oneself against such crimes. They must now be applied consistently: preventive detention, bans on residence, fines.” He demands that the Berlin Senate decide on a longer preventive detention. In Bavaria, 13 climate activists of the “last generation” are currently in prison for 30 days because of such a regulation.
Against a “endangerment of human life” during protests
“Protest actions of this kind are completely illegitimate and can no longer simply be accepted,” said FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai the news portal t-online. The “full hardness of the rule of law” must take effect. According to the politician, the activists are no longer concerned with the matter at hand, but only with a radical disruption of public order.
The Berlin Greens state chairwoman Susanne Mertens emphasized t-online, Protest must rule out endangering other people. “However, BER apparently has to revise its security concepts.”
Left leader Martin Schirdewan, on the other hand, defended the “last generation” whose protest “put a finger on the wound of political inaction in the face of the climate catastrophe”.
The police headquarters in Brandenburg announced that the climate activists would be charged with dangerous interference in air traffic, trespassing and property damage. Several people were taken into custody. A spokeswoman for the airport association ADV said there was no understanding of the protest actions. “It is unacceptable if air traffic safety is jeopardized.”