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Demonstrators in Munich: "Free from the crushing embrace of the automotive industry"
Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP
Thousands of people demonstrated in Munich against the International Motor Show (IAA) and for a mobility revolution. The organizers assumed 25,000 participants in a demonstration parade and a bicycle rally, which met on Saturday afternoon on the Theresienwiese, where the Oktoberfest usually takes place. According to the organizers, around 5,000 people took part in the demonstration and 20,000 in the rally. At the beginning of the demonstration, the police had estimated participation in him to be in the low thousands. For the bicycle rally to Munich, groups started in Frankfurt am Main, Regensburg, Augsburg and Rosenheim, among others.
According to initial information, the demonstration and rally were largely peaceful. The organizers were initially not aware of any incidents. However, Markus Büchler, Member of the Green Party, who had accompanied the demonstration as a “parliamentary observer”, reported at least one “baton scene” that he had observed. In addition, he confirmed statements by the action alliance "Sand in the Gears" that two trees had been occupied as a result of the demonstration.
An alliance had invited to the rally and the demonstration, which includes the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC), Attac, the BUND, the German Environmental Aid (DUH), Greenpeace and the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD). They demand "a clear departure from the car-dominated transport policy and priority for pedestrian, bicycle and local traffic". They see the demonstration as a sign of a change in mobility.
The activists and protesters criticize the IAA and the car companies.
Among other things, they accuse them of the fact that the trade fair is only providing a green paint job and that too little is being done to protect the climate.
Politicians must "finally free themselves from the crushing embrace of the automotive industry in order to enable climate-friendly transport for everyone," demanded the alliance.
"People want a different transport policy, consistent climate protection in traffic and good alternatives to their own car."
Laschet has no sympathy for IAA protests
Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet lacks understanding for the protests against the auto show. "This is the greenest IAA that has ever existed," said the CDU leader at the party convention of the sister party CSU in Nuremberg. Never before has there been so much talk of climate neutrality, sustainability and environmental protection. "The fact that people are still demonstrating, blocking roads and fighting this industry shows that some people are not interested in environmental protection, but rather in changing the system."
Actions and demonstrations have been going on around the IAA for days, and several activists have been taken into custody.
At the start of the trade fair on Tuesday, environmental activists abseiled from motorway bridges around Munich and paralyzed traffic around the city for a long time.
There were also clashes between police and hundreds of activists on Friday, in which officers used batons and pepper spray.
sep / kig / dpa / AFP