At the start of the new week, activists from the climate protest group “Last Generation” once again paralyzed traffic and aroused the anger of motorists and politicians. In Berlin there were traffic jams and obstructions in several places during rush hour on Monday. According to the police, activists initially stuck to the road in front of the main station. Other sticking actions in the city followed a few minutes later.
In Bavaria, the police had to block the A9 in the direction of Munich because of an action at the Munich-North motorway junction. Climate activists also protested on gantries on the A96, the police said. There was also a blockade in downtown Munich. The group had previously reported on Twitter about actions in both cities: “At the same time, people in Munich are climbing up sign bridges while others are blocking streets in Berlin.”
According to the group, many of the participants had already been in prison for a month and some had been sentenced to heavy fines. And later: “The prospect of preventive detention or punishment does not deter these people”.
NRW interior minister considers “tougher pace”
From the point of view of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the state must be very vigilant when it comes to “last generation” climate activists and, after a thorough examination, may have to take a tougher approach. “The state cannot just watch and let it continue,” said Reul on Deutschlandfunk. 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 exceeded. Politicians want to focus more closely on the group nationwide, as became clear at a meeting of federal and state interior ministers last Friday in Munich.
The group “Last Generation” demands better climate protection from the federal government and demands, among other things, a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour on motorways and a 9-euro train ticket for the whole of Germany. In recent months, the group has repeatedly blocked roads, attacked works of art or temporarily paralyzed the capital’s BER airport in Berlin.
