Ten climate activists were arrested in Germany on Saturday for completely halting aircraft activity at Munich Airport. The protesters, from the climate activism group, Letzte Generation (Last Generation), glued themselves on an airway, effectively impacting approximately sixty departures and arrivals.
The group, who are renowned for their disruptive practices in Germany, orchestrated the demonstration. They managed to gain entry to the runway at around 5 am, having cut through the security area fence. The obstruction lasted until about 7:15 am.
The disruption was severely condemned by Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Federal Interior Minister. Faeser underscored that such actions are harmful to climate protection as they only incite misunderstanding and anger. Additionally, the Interior Minister commended Germany’s Federal Police and advocated for the airport to improve security measures.
Furthermore, Germany’s Transportation Minister, Volker Wissing, termed the protest as not legitimate but criminal. Wissing emphasised the risks posed to human lives and the economic damage caused, stressing the necessity of strengthening the Aerial Security Act (Luftsicherheitgesetz).
Letzte Generation countered by blaming the country’s government for heavily subsidising the airway industry while neglecting the train transportation system. According to the group, the government pumps over 12 billion Euros annually into the airway industry.
In related news, in April, Germany’s parliament approved an amendment to its Climate Protection Act, following the Federal Constitutional Court’s rejection of an objection by a lawmaker. The amendment led to the removal of some greenhouse gas emission targets for individual sectors.