For more climate protection, demonstrators also blocked several exits of the A100 city motorway in Berlin on Tuesday – for the second day in a row.
According to the traffic information center, the exits Tempelhofer Damm, Messedamm Süd and Spandauer Damm as well as the Saarstraße exit of the A 103 were affected. The police directed vehicles over the sidewalk.
There was a traffic jam on the freeway during rush hour. “At the moment, the actions of the demonstrators seem to be happening every minute,” said the traffic information center. Several activists stuck themselves to the street on Halenseestrasse.
The demonstrators called for free public transport and a speed limit on their banners under the motto “Save oil instead of drilling”. In addition, under “Nordseeöl – nö” they plead for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to cancel new oil drilling in the North Sea.
It was only on Monday that there were brief blockades of motorway exits in numerous places. The climate protectors announced that they were planning daily interruptions to road traffic in the federal capital for the next few days.
The aim is to draw the federal government’s attention to their demands in a way that they cannot ignore. “An end is only in sight as soon as Prime Minister Olaf Scholz credibly declares that there will be no oil drilling in the North Sea.”
The day before, climate protectors had already blocked motorway exits in Berlin. Among other things, the A100 city motorway towards Wedding on Spandauer Damm and south on Kaiserdamm Süd as well as the A111 towards the city center on Saatwinkler Damm were affected, as the traffic information center (VIZ) announced on Twitter.
A total of about 80 people are said to have taken to the streets. There was a traffic jam. The police were on duty and quickly cleared most of the blockades. It was not yet clear whether and how many people were arrested.
According to the police, the actions affected nine exits or nearby intersections. A single-digit number of demonstrators took part in each case.
According to the police, motorway exits in many parts of the city in the north, west and south of Berlin such as Tegeler Weg, Sachsendamm, Beusselstraße, Siemensdamm, Saatwinkler Damm, Spandauer Damm, Messe Nord and Süd, Konstanzer Straße, Seestraße, Wexstraße and Oberlandstraße have been affected since around 8.30 a.m.
Demonstrators from the Last Generation group posted photos on Twitter showing blockers holding banners sitting on the street in the rain.
In a statement, the group wrote that 60 activists blocked the A100 in eleven places on Monday morning.
The activists had previously announced blockades. “Far more people than before” are now to take part in the actions and make the autobahns “a place of peaceful resistance,” it said.
The 45-year-old activist Sonja Manderbach was quoted as saying in a statement on Monday that they were “determined to go to prison for the lives of our children.” If climate and society collapse, unimaginable suffering and death await children.
“We still have 3 years to avert the collapse of our climate,” said co-initiator Henning Jeschke. According to his own statements, the 22-year-old had already taken part in a hunger strike for climate protection last year, which lasted 27 days.
In an open letter to the federal government, “Last Generation” called for more immediate action to be taken to combat climate change. In order to enforce this, a public disturbance by interrupting everyday life is needed.
In January and February, according to the police, the initiative in Berlin blocked 45 freeway exits with demonstrators sitting and taped to them. This was followed by blockades at airports and the port of Hamburg.
In March, the actions were interrupted, later resumed. This led to more than 270 criminal charges and around 120 charges of administrative offenses in Berlin. In the meantime, the police have a mid-three-digit number of investigations, mostly due to coercion and resistance to police officers.
Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) tweeted: “Anyone who is stuck on the streets wants to blackmail politics and society. The end does not justify the means. This also applies to the climate movement. The actions are punishable.
Benjamin Jendro, press spokesman for the Berlin police union, also criticized the action: “It’s nice that Berlin is considered an international metropolis where you can take to the streets with a few for everything and so massively hinder the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands.” he the daily mirror.
Protest within the framework of the law is legitimate, but the question of meaning and purpose must be allowed, according to Jendro.
