Climate activists paralyze BER airport: criticism after adhesive blockade - "absolutely unacceptable"

Created: 11/25/2022, 07:05

By: Fabian Mueller

Activists from the Last Generation group stormed Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

The action drew heavy criticism.

Update from November 25, 7:05 a.m .:

After the interim blockade of Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) by climate activists of the “last generation” on Thursday, politicians from several parties sharply criticized the protest action.

Blocking the capital's airport is "another escalation and absolutely unacceptable," wrote Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Twitter.

"These actions destroy important societal acceptance for the fight against climate change."

FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told the news portal

: "Protest actions of this kind are completely illegitimate and can no longer be simply accepted." The "full hardness of the rule of law" must take effect.

CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja said: "The rule of law knows the necessary instruments to defend against such crimes.

They must now be applied consistently: preventive detention, residence bans, fines.”

According to the federal police, two groups had gained access to the BER airport site on Thursday afternoon.

Some people glued themselves to the ground.

Berlin Airport temporarily stopped operations on both runways.

According to the first information, five starts had to be canceled because of the action, according to the airport, 750 passengers were affected.

After the action, the police took several people into custody.

The police headquarters in Brandenburg announced in the evening that the climate activists would be charged with dangerous interference in air traffic, trespassing and property damage.

More information on the number of those arrested is expected on Friday.

Climate activists on the BER site: Flight operations were temporarily suspended.

© Carsten Koall/dpa

Climate activists temporarily paralyze BER - airport resumes flight operations in the evening

First report from November 24th:

Berlin – Air traffic at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) was suspended on Thursday afternoon, presumably due to an action by climate activists.

"Because of the unauthorized access of several people, both runways at BER are currently closed," explained the operator.

A spokesman for the Berlin Federal Police spoke of an "incident" involving several people who were in the non-public area of ​​the airport.

Emergency services are on site.

No further details were given.

The climate protest group "Last Generation" said in a statement that several supporters had blocked the airport runway.

Some of them would have stuck to the asphalt, while others lead the maneuvering area with bicycles and brought air traffic to a standstill.

Shortly before entering the airport premises, the group said they informed the police about their plans via an emergency call.

The activists want to protest against the climate damage of flights.

At around 6:25 p.m., BER then gave the all-clear, flight operations resumed, but there were further shifts in ongoing operations.

BER wrote on Twitter: “Flight operations have resumed on both runways.

But there are still delays.

We ask for patience."

Police take several climate activists into custody

In the evening, the police announced that several people had been taken into custody.

The climate activists will be charged with dangerous interference in air traffic, trespassing and property damage.

The police did not say how many people were involved in the action.

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The activists recorded their action in a live stream on their Twitter channel.

The approximately 35-minute video allegedly shows a group of people cutting through a chain link fence and entering the airport premises.

Later, bicycles can be seen riding across an airstrip and two members of the group holding up a banner that reads, "What if the government can't handle this?" At around 4pm, the activists started their protest.

Climate activists paralyze BER - air traffic at Berlin Airport temporarily stopped

Towards the end of the live stream, the police finally intervened and asked the activists to leave the runway.

If necessary, they would also “use coercion”, according to one of the police officers.

BER then announced on its website in the afternoon that both runways were closed due to "unauthorized access by several people".

In the meantime, the Flightradar24 website showed how some aircraft were circling in the area around BER because they could not land. International flights from Istanbul or Newcastle were also affected.

Other flights were diverted and should land in Leipzig, Dresden or Hamburg.

(AFP/fmu)