Forest fire instead of G7: Federal police moved forces from the summit

Created: 2022-06-28Updated: 2022-06-28 4:49 p.m

A policewoman and a policeman with FFP2 masks face each other.

© Marijan Murat/dpa/ZB

In view of the manageable protests surrounding the G7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria, the federal police have relocated forces from there to eastern German forest fire areas in the past few days.

The simultaneous support missions for federal police helicopters in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg were "an unplanned challenge", said the federal police headquarters in Potsdam on Tuesday.

Elmau/Potsdam - "Thanks to a very low degree of mobilization by opponents of the summit, however, the corresponding forces could be relocated at short notice and the fire brigade teams on the ground could therefore be effectively supported."

Germany hosted the G7 summit with France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the USA and Great Britain, EU representatives and other guest countries.

Officially, the high-level meeting lasted from Sunday to Tuesday with tight security measures, including road closures and police checks.

As early as June 14, the federal police said they began increasing checks at borders, airports, train stations and trains to stop "violent disruptors".

A good 11,000 officers were deployed nationwide every day.

Federal Police President Dieter Romann thanked the emergency services.

"But I would also like to thank the peaceful demonstrators, who clearly distinguished themselves from violent extremists in exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression," he said in a statement.

In addition to the "efficient filter function" of the measures taken by the federal police, this is certainly another reason for the few arrivals from the left-wing extremist spectrum.

"This made the 2022 G7 summit in Elmau even more peaceful than the 2015 G7 summit there." dpa