The clearing of the Fechenheim forest is more peaceful than that of the hamlet of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area.

So far, the demonstrators have avoided violence against the police, the officers have been able to stick to their tactical concept and act prudently.

Even if the operation is extremely complex - the absence of escalation is good news, and it is only to be hoped that it will remain so until the area has been cleared and also in the event of any protests during the construction work afterwards.

The construction site for the Riederwald tunnel shows that a conflict does not have to escalate in order for the message that the demonstrators want to be conveyed that they are rejecting this motorway project.

It is their right to announce this, just as it was the self-evident right of all critics to exhaust the legal possibilities.

The two urgent applications from last week could only delay the police operation, not prevent it.

But it was right that the decisions of the courts were awaited.

Compromises divide the Greens

If the situation in the Fechenheimer Wald does not escalate further, nowhere will the sigh of relief be as great as with the Green Party candidate for the office of Frankfurt Mayor, Manuela Rottmann.

The party and its electorate are torn by the fact that the Greens stand by compromises that not everyone likes, as is the case in Lützerath, or reluctantly let a project go that contradicts their goals because it is legally approved in every respect, like The party in Hesse is now experiencing this for the second time within a short period of time, first during the construction of Autobahn 49, now when closing the gap on the A 66. Young supporters in particular find it difficult to come to terms with such realpolitik, while those of the Greens, on the other hand, vote in mainstream society secures.

How the evacuation in Fechenheim works

should be of no small importance for Rottmann's election result;

an escalation that made this conflict even more apparent to the party could seriously damage it.

The occupiers of the Dannenröder Forest and the Fechenheimer Forest have already achieved more than they might currently believe.

Nobody in Hesse will tackle major road construction projects anytime soon.

Whether this is wise in view of the increasing traffic in this transit country is better discussed on quieter days than on these.