Before the planned eviction of the village of Lützerath for lignite mining on Wednesday, the energy company RWE called on the squatters to be non-violent.
"Violence against the police or deployed employees is completely unacceptable," emphasized the utility in a statement published in the morning.
risk of illegal activities
RWE is calling on the squatters to respect the rule of law and peacefully end the illegal occupation of the houses, facilities and areas belonging to RWE.
"No one should put themselves in danger by doing something that breaks the law."
RWE wants to demolish the village in order to be able to excavate the lignite beneath the village.
Climate protection groups who are occupying the village are protesting against the plans.
Lützerath has become a symbol for the anti-coal movement.
RWE pointed out that coal mining was necessary in order to operate the brown hollow power plants at high capacity and thus save gas in power generation in Germany.
RWE had reached an agreement with the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, according to which the group wants to bring forward the phase-out of coal by eight years to 2030.
The originally almost 100 inhabitants of the small town have all been resettled.