Federal government condemns violence against police in Lützerath

Created: 01/11/2023 14:06

Police officers carry away a demonstrator during the evacuation of Lützerath.

© Federico Gambarini/dpa

The federal government has sharply condemned the violent resistance of climate activists against police officers during the evacuation of the Lower Rhine lignite village of Lützerath.

“There was resistance today and also riots during the ongoing evacuation of the village.

The federal government expressly condemns this violence," said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Wednesday in Berlin.

Berlin - "We have no understanding for that."

Protest may only move "peacefully and within the framework of our laws," said Hebestreit.

The police are there to enforce the law.

On Wednesday morning, officials began clearing the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish district, which was occupied by activists.

According to the police, Molotov cocktails, stones and pyrotechnics were occasionally thrown in the direction of the officers at the beginning of the operation.

The background to the conflict with the climate activists is the goal of the energy company RWE to excavate the coal lying under Lützerath.

For this, the hamlet in the area of ​​the city of Erkelenz is to be demolished.

In return, the economics ministries in the federal and state governments of North Rhine-Westphalia, led by the Greens, had agreed with RWE to phase out coal earlier than 2030.

The climate activists, who have been living in vacant houses for months, reject this compromise and want to oppose the ongoing eviction.

Government spokesman Hebestreit said that there was a "clear legal situation" for the evacuation of Lützerath.

"And you have to accept that." The last pending lawsuits against a demolition have been dismissed.

"In this respect, the federal government expects that the law will be observed." dpa