The federal government has apparently decided to take a tougher stance against climate activists.

They should be held accountable for the consequences of illegal actions.

On Thursday it became known that the federally owned Autobahn GmbH had filed a criminal complaint - for trespassing and other criminal offenses against the construction measures in the Fechenheimer Forest in Hesse.

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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According to information from the FAZ, it should be about coercion, property damage and theft.

The day-long protest actions in the past week can also be expensive for the climate activists.

The company is currently examining whether it can assert claims for damages, a spokesman confirmed.

This would reach a new level of escalation in the dispute between politicians and climate activists.

Companies such as RWE or Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH have also announced that they will examine claims for damages due to protest actions by climate activists.

In addition to Berlin and Brandenburg, the federal government is one of the shareholders in the operating company of Berlin Airport.

However, the Autobahn company reports directly to the Federal Ministry of Transport.

She has been responsible for the Autobahn for two years now.

"Lots of bulky waste"

Specifically, it is about the dispute in connection with the construction of the Riederwald tunnel on the A66 and the A661 in Frankfurt.

There, the police had to clear a protest camp run by environmental activists in the Fechenheim forest last week.

The demonstrators wanted to prevent a small part of the forest from being cleared for construction.

The effort involved was enormous, as internal documents from the Federal Ministry of Transport that are available to the FAZ show.

On almost two pages, they list the additional costs incurred by Autobahn GmbH: including additional construction work and security services in the run-up to the expected protest.

The company has also made a number of devices available to the police, including telescopic work platforms and mobile cranes.

During and after the evacuation, "huge amounts of bulky waste, household waste and hazardous waste" had to be removed.

"This also includes quantities of car and truck batteries, paints, refrigerators and solar panels that have not yet been quantified," the list says.

Finally, the additional costs that arose as a result of the four-day delay in clearing, such as the loss of earnings for the companies commissioned, and costs that arose from the fact that containers and site fences had to be kept available longer also had to be taken into account.

The last item on the list: costs resulting from theft of site fences, traffic safety beacons and traffic signs, as well as damage to site fences and buildings owned by the Autobahn company.

It is still unclear whether the claims for damages will actually be asserted.

Enforcement of the claims is subject to a "considerable evidentiary risk," the document says.