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Chancellor's visit: Olaf Scholz (centre) at the Eigenherd School in Kleinmachnow

Photo: FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has sharply criticized the sticking actions of climate demonstrators of the "last generation". I think it's completely crazy to somehow stick to a picture or on the street," Scholz said at a school in Kleinmachnow, Brandenburg.

He had the impression that it did not help anyone to change his mind, but that everyone was annoyed. "This is an action that I believe will not help," Scholz said. On the occasion of the EU Project Day, the Federal Chancellor visited the Eigenherd School and answered questions from pupils.

The group "Last Generations" regularly draws attention to the consequences of climate change with sit-ins and actions in museums. The members often stick themselves to roads.

Actions in Berlin and Karlsruhe

On Monday, however, there were again blockades of the group in Berlin, where, according to the police, 250 officers were deployed.

In addition, two activists were temporarily detained before the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe after they had tried to tamper with a stone with the inscription "Federal Constitutional Court". A spokeswoman for the "Last Generations" said in a statement justifying the action that the federal government had no plan for a way out of the climate catastrophe: "In doing so, it is breaking the constitution."

After a sticking action in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the district court has sentenced three activists there to fines. Two 25 and 60-year-old men had glued themselves to a gilded frame of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens with their fingertips in August 2022, a 24-year-old had filmed the action.

The court convicted the men of property damage. The public prosecutor's office had demanded six months in prison, the defense lawyers had pleaded for acquittal, justifying, among other things, a state of emergency in the climate crisis.

The judge affirmed a state of emergency. The climate crisis is a current danger. However, there is not even the slightest connection between climate protection and damage to the frame. The decision is not yet final – the 24-year-old has already announced his intention to appeal.

atb/dpa