The police evacuate the village of Lützerath, which is occupied by climate activists and has to make way for lignite mining. Image: dpa / Henning Kaiser
Germany
It is the confrontation that has been looming for weeks: the police have started clearing the brown coal village of Lützerath. Climate activists occupied Lützerath for weeks, wanting to prevent lignite mining. But no chance: The police arrived on Wednesday morning with a massive contingent and broke through the first barricades. However, the activists do not give up easily, there is a risk of escalation.
You can find out what’s happening in Lützerath in our live ticker.
9.23 a.m .: First clashes between police and activists in Lützerath
It came to the first scuffles, as dpa reporters reported. Sirens and alarm bells had previously been heard in the occupied area. Some activists climbed onto tall monopods and tripods – these are trunks tied together with platforms. They were erected in the past few days to make it as difficult as possible for the police to get to the activists.
Numerous videos are circulating on Twitter that show how massive the police force actually is:
“You can now leave the area here without further consequences for you,” the police said in a loudspeaker announcement.
9.05 a.m .: Police surround the village and begin the evacuation
The clearing operation for the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area, which is occupied by climate activists, began on Wednesday morning. As the responsible police headquarters Aachen wrote on Twitter, police forces surrounded the place. Aachen’s police chief Dirk Weinspach told the Berlin-Brandenburg broadcaster radioeins that the preparations for the evacuation had been completed on Tuesday and that the necessary logistics had been set up.
A controversial meeting will be held in the Chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday, chaired by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. What used to be called the car summit is now called the mobility summit and has not been under a lucky star from the start. In addition to environmental organizations, coalition and opposition parties, bicycle and rail associations have also criticized the meeting.
