Sharp reactions

Freeway blocked: “Border crossed now!”

In contrast to other actions, the police quickly broke up the blockade on the Brenner highway.

(Bild: Liebl Daniel/zeitungsfoto.at)

The climate blockade on the Tyrolean Brenner highway near the Europabrücke bridge on Thursday morning by Last Generation activists provoked strong political reactions. For the ÖVP, "a line has definitely been crossed". The FPÖ called for "all conceivable legal measures" to be taken. State Premier Georg Dornauer (SPÖ) had already called for a rigorous crackdown by the police in an interview with "Krone".

Climate activists set out on Thursday morning for their most dangerous protest action in Tyrol to date. The transit route par excellence, the A13 Brenner highway, was blocked in the area of the Europabrücke bridge. A long traffic jam formed. In contrast to other actions, the police intervened quickly in this case. The blockade was broken up - one activist had become stuck and had to be removed from the road. 

Well over 100 charges filed this week
All seven activists were charged. Including those from the blockade of the Inn bridge in the morning, a total of seven members of the Last Generation were charged in Tyrol on Thursday. Since the beginning of the week-long wave of protests on Monday, there have been around 150 charges.

When professional demonstrators stick themselves on the Brenner highway and thus actively endanger the security of supply for the population, it no longer has anything to do with climate protection.

ÖVP-Klubobmann Jakob Wolf

Tyrol's VP party leader: "Enough is enough!"
The blockade on the Brenner highway has now caused many people's anger to boil over. There were strong reactions from politicians. "Enough is enough!" rumbled Tyrol's ÖVP party leader Jakob Wolf: "A line has definitely been crossed now." He continued: "When professional demonstrators stick themselves on the Brenner highway and actively endanger the population's security of supply, it has nothing to do with climate protection."

Demands on the federal government
Meanwhile, ÖVP Economic Councillor Mario Gerber called on the federal government to make tougher penalties possible by tightening the laws. Gerber felt that the right to demonstrate had been violated and that "organized crime" had been committed. It was obvious that "many of the demonstrators are more interested in causing disruption than finding constructive solutions."

The ÖVP provincial councillors Cornelia Hagele (Health) and Astrid Mair (Security) also called for "tougher penalties" and, in the worst case scenario, saw the lives of patients threatened - should an ambulance not be able to get through.

"Residence ban for foreign climate activists"
The Tyrolean FPÖ leader Markus Abwerzger called for "all conceivable legal measures" to be taken. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution should become active, and Abwerzger also called for stricter federal laws.

Above all, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must become active quickly and observe and strictly monitor the activists, as they are at the very edge of the constitutional spectrum.

Tirols FPÖ-Chef Markus Abwerzger

Foreign climate activists should be banned from staying in Austria immediately. Abwerzger called for an addition to the offense of failing to render assistance in order to take action against the blockade of ambulances in use.

SPÖ leader admonishes state police director
In the run-up to the Brenner blockade, Tyrol's SPÖ leader Georg Dornauer warned the provincial police director via the "Krone" newspaper. "The provincial police director must ensure that his officers - all of them - take rigorous action. Our population will no longer allow these troublemakers to plant them!"