Coal protests in Lützerath: Activists continue to hold out in tunnels

The evacuation of Lützerath is progressing quickly – but apparently two climate activists are still hiding in tunnels. A first rescue attempt was aborted. In Essen, meanwhile, activists have chained themselves in front of the RWE headquarters.

In the lignite town of Lützerath, the emergency services are concentrating on the underground tunnel systems on the third day of the clearance. According to activists, there are two people there. The two are determined to chain themselves as soon as an attempt is made to get them out, said a spokeswoman for the “Lützerath is alive” initiative.

The police also assume that two activists have entrenched themselves in the corridors, a spokesman said. The Technical Relief Agency tried to get the demonstrators out that night, but ended the operation later. It is not yet known when a new attempt will be made.

tunnel several meters deep

The situation is not without danger, said Aachen’s police chief Dirk Weinspach: “We don’t know how stable these underground soil structures are. We also don’t know how the air supply is there,” said Weinspach. According to “Lützerath Leben” the climate activists are at a depth of a good four meters. There is a ventilation system.

The squatters had alerted the police to the tunnels themselves: they reported on the corridors on social networks and warned the police not to drive into the area with heavy equipment. “It is not foreseeable how long the evacuation of the underground soil structures will take. It will also be important to proceed very carefully and not take any risks,” said Weinspach.

Clearance almost complete

Above ground, the settlement has been largely cleared. According to the police, more than 300 people left the place on Thursday. About 70 people were identified. Criminal charges were filed against six people for resisting law enforcement officers and damaging property. Since the start of the operation, judges have sent three people into long-term custody, it said. Two of them were released after they disclosed their personal details.

According to police, the night was largely quiet. Today, the emergency services want to storm a last occupied house. During the night, the climate activists endured heavy rain, strong winds and temperatures below ten degrees. According to the police, the area was not cleared any further.

Greens vacate party headquarters

Many of the demonstrators criticize the Economics Minister Robert Habeck and the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia for agreeing to the clearing of the settlement. About a dozen activists occupied the NRW party headquarters in Düsseldorf for ten hours. During the night, the police ended the protest and carried some of the people out of the building, said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police. Some of the squatters were drunk and watched films. Criminal proceedings were initiated for trespassing.

A spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalia Greens said the activists had repeatedly been offered talks. However, these were rejected. Therefore, the party had to make use of its domiciliary rights.

Activists also protested in front of the RWE headquarters in Essen. About 20 people gathered in front of the front gate, some chained themselves to it like that WDR reported. On posters they demand, among other things, “Stop the destruction of our livelihood”. They also sprayed the slogan “Lützi stays” on the floor.

Habeck renewed criticism of protests

Economics Minister Habeck has little understanding for the massive protests. “There are many good reasons to demonstrate for more climate protection, for example against the Greens. But Lützerath is simply the wrong symbol,” Habeck told the “Spiegel”.

The village is not the symbol for the continuation of the Garzweiler lignite mine in the Rhineland, but “it is the final stroke,” said the minister. The coal phase-out in the local coal mining area is preferred by eight years to 2030, which was always the goal of the climate movement.

Habeck defended a corresponding contract between the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the energy company RWE. That means: “We save five villages and farms with around 450 residents. The Hambacher Forest has been secured. The approved mining volume for coal in opencast mining was halved as a result of the agreement.”