Protest stop under conditions
Blackmail allegation against “Last Generation”
02/27/2023 06:09 am
The “Last Generation” wants to end their protests at the federal level and in individual municipalities if their demands are met. Hanover signals accommodation and should therefore be spared from road blockades and other actions. The FDP warns that giving in is “naive and dangerous”.
The announcement by the “Last Generation” climate activists that they would end their controversial protests over demands met with sharp criticism. “Blackmail is not an expression of legitimate protest,” said the domestic spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Manuel Höferlin, the “world”. That’s why he considers it “naïve and dangerous if individual municipalities now give in to this blackmail, because the next escalation will definitely follow”.
The group “Last Generation” has announced that it will halt its protests across the country or in individual municipalities if the respective government responds to their demands. The actions should end in Hanover – there Mayor Belit Onay from the Greens had assured the activists after a meeting that they would support their demand for a “social council” with a letter to the democratic parliamentary groups. According to the ideas of the climate protectors, such a council of randomly drawn people should develop measures to ensure that Germany no longer emits any climate-damaging CO2 by 2030.
In a democratic system, political decisions would not be made by “councils” but by the elected representatives of the people, Union faction leader Andrea Lindholz warned in the newspaper. The CSU politician emphasized that peaceful protests are an important and legitimate means of initiating change. “Committing crimes to achieve a goal is just as irrelevant as ultimatums or blackmail.”
SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch said it was important to seek dialogue. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also had discussions with representatives of the “last generation” a year ago. In view of the cooperation in Hanover, the following also applies: “Politics must not allow themselves to be blackmailed.” The AfD right-wing politician Stephan Brandner spoke out in the newspaper for “good education, robust action and fast, hard penalties” against the climate protectors, known above all for their adhesive actions. Politicians should “neither allow themselves to be blackmailed nor coerced”.