2024-07-25 08:46:16
Air traffic was temporarily suspended Wednesday morning at Frankfurt airport, the first in Germany, after an incursion by environmental activists led to police intervention, according to an airport spokesman. The main landing strip at Germany’s largest airport was put back into service at 7:02 a.m., the spokesman said, adding that a runway was opened soon after, with one minute to go.
Eight environmental activists were arrested. Seven of them managed to get their hands on the tarmac, while the eighth got stuck on the airport’s security mesh. All the terrorists have not been completely captured, the spokesman said.
“We are doing everything we can to clear the climate activists from the tarmac,” a police source told AFP before the restart. All take offs and landings are suspended in Frankfurt. Flights to the center of the German metropolis are then diverted to other airports, it is also specific.
Talk about an activist movement
The action was claimed by activists from the group Letzte Generation (Last Action), a major activist movement in Germany, the author of many extraordinary actions in the name of climate protection. Among their frequent methods and arguments: blocking roads and places by following their hands on the asphalt.
“The six demonstrators used small tools to make openings in the walls (of the airport editor’s note) and arrived on foot, by bike and on a skateboard in various places around the runways and landings,” indicated the press release. a group
The action was taken to “request the German government to participate in the development and signing of a legal international agreement that regulates the global distribution of oil, gas and coal by 2030”, explained them. It is part of an international campaign carried out with other organizations, they also said.
German Tourism Minister Volker Wissing condemned the “criminal” act and urged tougher sanctions against activists. “Apparently the climate activists are looking to do as much damage as possible. Lawmakers must respond with maximum measure,” he said, calling for five-year prison sentences for those blocking the airport. “Anyone who enters the airports by force, takes the runways and blocks the planes is endangering people’s lives,” he added.
This Wednesday morning, several environmental organizations took action against airports in Europe, including London’s Heathrow airport, the first in Europe, and Cologne airport in Germany.
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