According to police, there are “many injured” on both sides, some of whom were taken by helicopters and ambulances to hospitals.
Violent clashes between the police and protesters led to mass demonstrations in the rain late Saturday afternoon in Lucerat, an abandoned village near Dusseldorf, where the security forces have been trying for the last few days to evacuate houses occupied by activists and pave the way for the expansion of the area’s lignite mine.
According to police, there are “many injured” on both sides, some of whom were taken by helicopters and ambulances to hospitals.
In 2017, the approximately 900 inhabitants of Lucerat were forced to leave their homes and relocate, in order to proceed with the exploitation of the area’s lignite-rich subsoil.
In 2013 the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the expansion of the Gartsweiler mine was in the public interest.
About 700 activists later settled in the abandoned buildings, making the village a symbol of the climate crisis and the fight to de-lignify energy production.
A district court has since issued eviction orders, which took effect last Tuesday, but failed to persuade the activists to leave.
On the contrary, the number of demonstrators has been steadily increasing in the past few days, ahead of the demonstration planned for yesterday against the government’s plan, which cites the increased need for lignite due to the abandonment of Russian oil and natural gas.
In October 2022 Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Economy Minister Mona Neubauer (Greens) reached a compromise with the energy company RWE to accelerate the de-lignification of the region from 2038 to 2030, with the energy colossus to accept the extension of its activities to be limited to Lucerat and to save five abandoned villages, which were about to be razed.
“Painful but necessary decision”
According to the government and RWE plan, the mining expansion will contribute an additional 280 tons of lignite.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war (in Ukraine) is temporarily forcing us to make more use of lignite in order to save natural gas for electricity generation,” Mr Habeck said, calling it a “painful but necessary decision”. while insisting that energy policy “continues as is”. This is an absolute “red line”, assured the minister.
After several days of silence, Chancellor Olaf Solz condemned the protests yesterday.
“I used to protest too, and quite often, but for me there is a line, which is exactly where the demonstration becomes violent,” Mr. Soltz told Wochentaz, rejecting criticism that the mining of the lignite deposits in Lutserrat will jeopardize climate goals.
He countered that the protests should be about the fact that it currently takes six years to get approval to install a wind turbine. “If we want to achieve the energy transition, we need more speed” for Germany to be climate neutral by 2045, he noted. “This goal is non-negotiable,” he stressed, ruling out any possibility of extending again the life of the country’s three nuclear plants, which were originally due to shut down at the end of 2022 and, due to the energy crisis, remain in operation until April .
“The Greens surrendered”
Activists in Lützerat, under the slogan “Lützi bleibt” (“Lützi remains”), occupied the remaining buildings, while also setting up makeshift camps and refusing to leave, despite calls from politicians and efforts by the police.
The head of the Aachen police, Dirk Weinspach, has emerged as the “face” of the confrontation, who, although a member of the Greens, made it clear to the demonstrators that, if the evacuation of the village is ordered, he will have no other choice. “The Greens have given in to RWE, the activists have not,” said the well-known German activist Louisa Neubauer from Lucerrat, while Greta Thunberg also went to the area yesterday to join her voice with the protesters.
According to police, protesters and police officers were injured during the protests, which involved more than 15,000 people.
Water cannons were used to prevent protesters from breaking through the barricades to the ruined buildings.
In addition, at least two people are believed to be trapped in tunnels as early afternoon protesters lined the edge of the open coal mine, defying police warnings about the danger.
“Absolutely terrified” of the dangers lurking in the area, said Dirk Weinspach, the head of about 1,000 police officers tasked with evacuating the village.
After the police operation is completed, RWE intends to proceed with the construction of a 1.5 km perimeter fence around Lusserrat in order to secure the area before demolitions begin.
“We will put our bodies in front of the diggers,” the protesters warn.
RES-EMP
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