Environmental activists entered the tarmac of Berlin and Munich airports on Thursday morning, without causing any flight delays or cancellations, to protest against the German government’s climate policy.
“Activists […] stuck to the runway at Munich airport […] and went to Berlin airport”, welcomed Thursday in a press release the collective “Letzte Generation” (Last generation).
This is the latest punchy action for these climate activists, at the origin of several civil disobedience operations in museums or on the roads.
In Munich, the country’s second airport after Frankfurt, the north runway was “blocked for three quarters of an hour” by “four people who stuck” to the tarmac, a representative confirmed to AFP.
No flights were canceled, however, as scheduled planes were able to depart from the “southern runway”, he added. The demonstrators were “taken off” by the police, before being taken into custody.
In Berlin, “several people” entered a track, said a spokesperson. This “had no effect on traffic”.
“Letzte Generation” activists are targeting aviation, “a heavily subsidized sector, co-responsible for the climate catastrophe”, they said.
This action provoked the indignation of several political leaders, even within the government where environmentalists occupy key positions.
“With their criminal acts, the activists […] jeopardize the social consensus. A democracy makes its decisions on the basis of a majority and does not back down in the face of pressure,” Transport Minister Volker Wissing reacted on Thursday.
Berlin’s BER airport, the country’s third largest, has already been targeted by militants. At the end of November, they had blocked a track by sticking their hands on the asphalt.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also criticized these actions, calling on environmentalists to use “other modes” of protest.
At the end of October, the blocking of a road by activists, accused of having delayed the arrival of help after a road accident which caused the death of a cyclist, caused a lively controversy in Germany.