"Last Generation": Sharp criticism after protest at Berlin Airport - operations paralyzed
Created: 11/25/2022, 7:35 am
By: Katja Thorwarth
On Thursday, the climate activists of the "last generation" shut down Berlin's BER airport.
The criticism of the actions is now sharper.
Berlin - One day after the climate activists of the "last generation" shut down Berlin Airport for several hours, there is great outrage.
The activists had managed to penetrate the BER premises and sometimes stuck to the runways.
Others had brought the shunting area to a standstill with their bicycles.
The “Last Generation” shared a tweet on Twitter, which is supposed to explain their action: “Air traffic is extremely harmful to the climate.
There will be no sustainable technical solutions for this at least until 2050, maybe never.
Individuals can hardly do anything more climate-damaging - and this industry is growing like no other."
As early as February, the "Last Generation" blocked access to Berlin Airport BER.
© Paul Zinken/dpa
Political representatives show little understanding.
Politicians from several parties have sharply criticized the protest action.
Blocking the capital's airport is "another escalation and absolutely unacceptable," wrote Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Twitter.
Union faction vice in the Bundestag, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), even called for “consistent penalties” for disrupting flight operations.
She sees "a red line" crossed.
The operator of the airport had already declared in the afternoon that both runways at BER were closed "due to unauthorized access by several people".
In the evening he announced that flight operations had resumed.
But there are still delays.
"Last Generation": Berlin Airport BER paralyzed
A spokesman for the federal police said in the ARD “Tagesthemen” that it was “very clearly” property damage and trespassing.
There is also the possibility that "a dangerous intervention in air traffic" has taken place.
According to their own statements, the “Last Generation” had informed the police about their plans by calling an emergency shortly before entering the airport premises.
One wants to protest against the climate damage of flights.
The group posted a video on Twitter of three people wearing orange body armor entering the airport through a hole in the fence.
One of the three young men was pushing a bicycle.
Photos showed activists with a banner on the tarmac.
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Action at Berlin airport of the "last generation": "counterproductive, pretentious and potentially dangerous"
The deputy leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, criticized the action as "counterproductive, presumptuous and potentially dangerous".
In addition, von Notz sees a need to catch up on the security concept of BER.
"It will have to be checked carefully," he told the news portal
t-online
, "how the activists could manage so easily" to get onto the BER runway.
Left boss Martin Schirdewan sees it a little differently.
He also told
t-online
that the actions of the "last generation" are controversial, "but they also touch the wound of political inaction in the face of the climate catastrophe".
(ktho/AFP)
