The hamlet of Lützerath in the Rhineland is to be cleared for the lignite underneath. Climate activists want to prevent that. The violent part of the scene on site is small, according to the police.
The police in Aachen responsible for clearing the town of Lützerath, which is occupied by climate activists, are planning to operate for a total of four weeks. “The forces come from all over Germany,” said operations manager Wilhelm Sauer in Aachen. He did not say how many police officers will be involved.
Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach said the hamlet, which is located directly next to the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine, can be expected to be cleared from Wednesday or on the following days. “Since we will be holding an information event for citizens in Erkelenz tomorrow, they must expect the evacuation to begin the day after tomorrow or the following days,” he said.
Activists who want to prevent the place in the Rhineland from being cleared and dredged for opencast mining have been living in the abandoned buildings in Lützerath for months.
In the dispute over the legality of a residence ban in Lützerath, the Higher Administrative Court for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia dismissed a complaint from climate activists. The OVG announced that the urgent decision of the Aachen Administrative Court from the previous week was not objectionable.
Greens warn of a tough confrontation
In Lützerath there are seven barricaded houses and 27 tree houses, said Weinspach. According to the police, around 300 people are currently staying there, and there is still arrival traffic. According to the police, there are around 250 other people in a camp in the neighboring village of Keyenberg. The scene in Lützerath is violent in parts, but this part is a small part of the scene. “For the most part, we experience the spectrum of protests peacefully there,” said Weinspach. He hopes it stays that way.
According to the police, stones were already thrown at officials at a concert as part of the protest on Sunday. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) called on the peaceful climate activists to distance themselves from the violent criminals and to settle down.
The Greens warned of a tough confrontation. “I think de-escalation of everyone involved is now the order of the day,” said co-chairman Ricarda Lang on the sidelines of a meeting of the party’s federal executive board in Berlin. Although the energy company RWE has a legal right here, negotiations have succeeded in ensuring that coal in the Rhenish mining area will end in 2030 and that several villages where people still live will not be excavated, said Lang. “Nevertheless, I understand the people who are demonstrating there now, the frustration and, above all, the pressure for more climate protection,” she added.
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, warned of riots during the planned evacuation. Peaceful protests are legitimate in a democracy, Haldenwang told the “taz”. “However, the protest movement in Lützerath is very heterogeneous.” You can see that violent left-wing extremists are mobilizing against the eviction nationwide and are already gathering on site. Some calls for militant actions, said Haldenwang.
Police: “We don’t know what to expect inside”
The energy company RWE wants to tear down Lützerath in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia in order to mine the coal underneath. The land and houses in the village, which is characterized by agriculture, belong to RWE. However, activists who have announced resistance now live in the remaining premises, whose former residents have moved away. They see no need to dig up and burn the coal.
Operations manager Sauer spoke of an extensive operational area with many unknowns. “We don’t know what to expect in there,” he said of the houses and large barns. It is also not known whether traps were set up or whether roofs were climbed. Blockages and blockages are plentiful. The possible scenarios also include the occupation of 96 meter high large excavators in opencast mines. The operational management was prepared for it.
The police will try to solve situations through communication and discussions. Weinspach said police are under the impression that citizens are also preparing for a violent escalation of this conflict by taking part in bunkering of paving stones, smashing roof tiles and building depots. These are preparations for a violent escalation that nobody wants, said Weinspach.
The background to the forthcoming police operation is a general decree from the Heinsberg district to clear the village. The general decree prohibits people from staying from December 23, 2022 to February 13, 2023. If this eviction is not followed, the decree provides the basis “for taking evacuation measures from January 10,” it said – theoretically too from Tuesday. According to the chief of police, this is not to be expected immediately.
Source: Stern
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