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Ende Gelände Berlin blocks state representation of North Rhine-Westphalia

Since 9:30 a.m. activists from Ende Gelände have been blocking the state represenation of NRW in Berlin. They are protesting against the large-scale police operation in the Hambacher forest, where tree houses have been cleared and trees were felled since yesterday. The coal company RWE wants to clear the Hambacher forest in order to expand the open pit lignite mine. Ende Gelände Berlin will continue to occupy the site until the state government ends the police operation in the forest. The prime minister of NRW, Armin Laschet, had publicly announced that the state government will support RWE.

“The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is making itself a henchman of economic interests. RWE is a threat to the forest and to the global climate. A government that supports this company with a large contingent of police to evict and clear the forest has lost its social legitimacy,” said Karolina Drzewo, press spokeswoman for Ende Gelände.

“We must prevent the climate catastrophe, and for that we need an immediate coal exit. The clearing of the Hambacher forest for further lignite mining is pointless and irresponsible. We will be putting ourselves in the way of RWE’s vandalism – on the spot in the forest as well as in Berlin,” continued spokeswoman Karolina Drzewo.

Yesterday, over thousand people in and around the Hambacher forest protested against the eviction and clearing. Hundreds came to spontaneous solidarity events in Berlin and many other cities. For the weekend Ende Gelände and the „Aktion Unterholz“ call for protests in the forest to protect the trees and initiate the immediate coal exit.

From 25 to 29 October Ende Gelände, together with activists from all over Europe, will block the Hambacher lignite open-cast mine in a mass action of civil disobedience. This will be a strong signal for the immediate coal exit and the preservation of the Hambacher forest as an urgent measure for climate justice worldwide.