Last generation: Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz sharply criticize climate activists after the airport blockade

Enlarge image

Riot of the "Last Generation" on the runway of BER Airport (on Thursday)

Photo: Stefan Müller / PIC ONE / picture alliance

Even two days after the blockade of the capital's BER airport by climate activists, criticism of the action continues.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said on Saturday that he simply could not understand the actions.

"They are not only incomprehensible, but also extremely dangerous, as one could see with the activities at BER, for example," said the chancellor at the state party conference of the SPD Brandenburg in Cottbus.

Scholz said: "I also didn't understand what good it does for the climate if you smear works of art.

In this respect, those involved should consider other activities than those that are accepted by almost nobody in Germany.«

CDU leader Friedrich Merz described the participants in the BER campaign as "criminal offenders".

"We must not trivialize such incidents," said Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) of the "Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung".

The rule of law must and will act – he did not give any details.

In Munich, all climate activists who were last in custody there were released again.

more on the subject

• Punishment lifted early: 19 climate activists in Munich released from police custody

• Adhesive action at BER: This is how the "last generation" paralyzed air traffic in BerlinBy Marco Evers, Sophie Garbe, Matthias Gebauer and Serafin Reiber

Activists from the "Last Generation" group gained access to the capital's BER airport on Thursday and temporarily paralyzed air traffic.

Some got stuck on the tarmac.

The Brandenburg State Criminal Police Office is investigating six activists for dangerous interference in air traffic, disruption of public services, trespassing and property damage, among other things.

Woidke said that a limit had been exceeded with the action at BER at the latest.

The activists consciously accept the endangerment of people and structures in order to draw attention to themselves.

This harms the important concern of climate protection.

"These are the most serious crimes"

According to CDU leader Merz, the actions have nothing to do with the right to demonstrate or freedom of expression.

"These are the most serious crimes that discredit the goal for which they are supposedly going to the airport," he said at a party conference of the Berlin CDU.

The group, which has recently repeatedly blocked roads, is achieving the opposite of what it actually claims to want to achieve.

Merz recalled that the Union in the Bundestag had proposed increased penalties for such actions, "even under threat of imprisonment for the second time at the latest".

He knows that most people don't get better in prison.

"But while they're sitting there, it's quiet outside." The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry recommended the companies and passengers affected by the action at BER to "claim damages" from the group.

Linke boss Martin Schirdewan campaigned to take the concerns of climate activists seriously.

"For me, it's about us talking about the real problem and that's climate change, that's that we as a society are marching into the climate catastrophe," he said on Deutschlandfunk.

The activists resorted to “drastic measures”, which sometimes annoyed him.

Ultimately, however, civil disobedience is "an important part of the political culture, as long as no one is harmed."

There is no need to tighten criminal law.

mwo/dpa