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Lützerath, day two: This video published by activists on youtube bursts into the middle of the evacuation of the occupied village on the edge of the lignite mining area in North Rhine-Westphalia.
You can see two young men who claim to be in a secret tunnel under the village.
Activist: »What makes sense is that a tunnel is much more difficult to clear than a tree house. First, you don't know exactly where people are. The police on the surface don't know where the people are in the tunnel."
In addition, according to the activists, the chamber is secured with concrete doors, and they can also chain themselves to supporting structures.
It is unclear whether the video is purely a diversionary maneuver or whether activists are actually currently in a tunnel under Lützerath.
According to the police, they are currently examining evidence of a tunnel system on site.
With chainsaws and heavy machinery, the officials are meanwhile progressing above ground with the clearance.
The police try to remove and carry away the squatters from house roofs and rope constructions, from tree houses and village buildings.
The remaining activists are confident that this will take time.
Flo, climate activist: »The police are currently in the process of clearing structures everywhere. Luckily, the grove, the Lützerather forest, isn't there yet. But we are prepared for anything. We're holding out here, we're motivated, the mood is still good. Here Bella Ciao is singing straight. We will do our best to ensure that Lützerath stays and that Lützerath cannot be evacuated.«
It's not easy for everyone involved.
Cold, stormy wind, mud - the activists defend themselves against the eviction by sticking to window panes, but sometimes also with more violent resistance such as pyrotechnics or thrown paint.
Andreas Müller, police spokesman: »Other buildings, everything went very peacefully there. There were people in there who had secured themselves in lock-ons. But that went without any problems. At the moment we have the situation that stones are flying and sometimes firecrackers are being thrown out. The situation is under control, the colleagues are there. But this is a foretaste of what could still await us.«
The activists want to delay the RWE power company from demolishing the village for as long as possible in order to expand the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine in the area and thus promote more coal for the particularly climate-damaging generation of electricity.
Despite studies suggesting that the lignite under Lützerath is not needed, several top Green politicians have once again defended the eviction, including Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck.
Robert Habeck, Federal Minister of Economics: »In my opinion, the studies do not reflect this with the political urgency that prevails in Germany at the moment. And in this respect, the decision now, unfortunately, to emphasize once again, to generate more lignite is necessary in terms of energy security policy. And it is just as necessary in terms of climate policy, which is ultimately a question of security and freedom, to generate electricity as little coal as possible as quickly as possible and the security for this is created by the decision to end lignite-fired power generation in the Rhenish Revier in 2030. «
However, there is still a long way to go until then.
However, it is more open than ever how long the evacuation of Lützerath will take.
Especially if activists have actually holed up underground.
