Clearance for coal mining
Uncomfortable night for Lützerath squatters
Rescue workers advise in front of a building in which people have holed up in a tunnel. photo
© David Young/dpa
The Lützerath occupation is a stress test for the opponents of coal. Wind and weather demands the activists. Some stay in the tunnels.
The forces of the Technical Relief Agency initially did not get the activists out of their hiding place in a tunnel under the lignite town of Lützerath on Friday night. The THW ended the operation, said a police spokeswoman early Friday morning. It was initially unclear when a new attempt would be made to get the activists out.
A police spokesman had previously stated that one had no eye contact with the people, but could speak to them. On Thursday it became known that activists had apparently holed up in an underground passage.
A spokeswoman for the group “Lützerath lives” said the people were a good four meters deep. The activists had prepared for this and actively decided on the action. “As soon as there is any heavy equipment moving here, as soon as there is any demolition or clean-up work, the tunnel may be in danger of collapsing and your life may be at risk,” she said. The tunnel action is one of many forms of protest with which the climate activists want to hinder the evacuation of Lützerath.
Uncomfortable night for squatters
According to a police spokesman, there should be no further evictions of houses or tree houses during the night. However, the police will become active if activists – as in the case of the tunnel campaign – have to be freed from potentially dangerous situations. But that was not the case at first.
Although many Lützerath defenders have already left voluntarily and the police have partially cleared houses and self-built settlements, there are still activists on the site. “We will definitely keep the place here until the big demo on Saturday,” said a spokeswoman for “Lützerath is alive”. “But even if Lützerath, the village, goes away, we will still have the networking and educational work that we have done here and have connected. We will move on and find new places of resistance.”
The remaining climate activists persevered in the uncomfortable weather. In heavy rain, strong winds and temperatures below ten degrees, they stayed in squats or self-built dwellings early on Friday morning. The police initially did not clear further during the night.
Police end the occupation of the NRW party headquarters of the Greens
After more than ten hours, police officers ended the occupation of the party headquarters of the North Rhine-Westphalia Greens early on Friday morning. This was announced by a party spokesman in the morning. The activists did not want to leave the office voluntarily. Therefore, one had to make use of domestic law. According to a police spokesman, the evacuation was peaceful. What is now threatening the activists was not initially known during the night.
Around 30 activists from several climate protection organizations occupied the party’s office in Düsseldorf on Thursday afternoon. They wanted to protest against the attitude of the Greens to the evacuation of the village of Lützerath. Since, according to a party spokesman, there had already been threatening situations for employees in the past, the party then informed the police.
During the campaign, the alliance “Lützerath Unräumbar” called for a “moratorium to stop the nonsensical and dangerous evacuation in the Rhenish lignite mining area”. In addition, the squatters wanted to negotiate personally with NRW Energy Minister Mona Neubaur (Greens).
The minister did not follow this request. According to the party spokesman, however, there were several offers of talks that were not accepted. The activists, however, accused the Greens of being stubborn and not responding to their demands. To vacate at night, out of the public light, is cowardly, they said on Friday morning.
State party leader Tim Achtermeyer had rated the action on Thursday as an unacceptable form of political blackmail. “We do not see filling our offices as an appropriate means. Especially since we have made offers to talk in the past.” That will also be the case in the future.
The occupation was the second action by climate protectors at the state party headquarters this week. A Düsseldorf alliance unloaded 250 kilograms of lignite briquettes in front of the office on Tuesday. This should symbolically reproach the party “that they are no longer the party of climate protection, but the coal party”.