G7 protests in Munich smaller than expected
Fewer protesters because of the Ukraine war?
Before the G7 summit in 2015 at Schloss Elmau, around 35,000 people had come to Munich. The person who announced the large G7 demonstration, Uwe Hiksch, explained the fact that the number of participants was below expectations with the Ukraine war. “We have the impression that a lot of people are unsettled by the war in Ukraine,” he said during the demonstration in Munich. Of course, we expected more participants. However, it had been apparent for about a week and a half that the mobilization was not that strong.
Especially in the red-green spectrum, which is usually mobilized for the demonstrations, many people are currently saying: “Now is not the time to take a counter-position to the heads of government.”
“We are disappointed”
Other activists are also amazed and surprised at the regular flow of people at the start of the rally on the Theresienwiese. “We are disappointed,” said 46-year-old Andrea from Greenpeace in Hanover. It seems as if only organizations are on site – but no one from the population.
Similar statements were made by 50-year-old Thorben Becker from Berlin, who had traveled to Bavaria for the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation. He would have hoped for more demonstrators; but there is currently not that. An exciting topic like TTIP or Trump that can mobilize people. The war in Ukraine is bad and affects many people, but one senses that politicians are making serious efforts, he said.
The mobilization was slow, said Florian Kaiser from the Bavarian Nature Conservation Union. But he doesn’t know why that is. The good weather may have kept people away.
Two police officers injured
It was only towards the end of what had been a completely peaceful protest march through downtown Munich that there was a brief altercation between the police and the so-called Black Block. The trigger was the arrest of a demonstrator. “Then there were solidarity actions,” said police spokesman Andreas Franken. Two police officers were injured.
Overall, the police drew a positive conclusion from what they saw as a peaceful demonstration; in her balance she also spoke of a total of nine people who were arrested. Three cases each involved dangerous bodily harm and violations of the ban on wearing masks at meetings, and two cases involved attacks on police officers. Another arrest of a wanted person finally triggered the aforementioned brief confrontation.
Protest alliance criticizes the police
The protest alliance “Stop G7 Elmau” condemned the actions of the officials in the evening as “violent” and “unjustified”. The police had previously rejected criticism of the operation.
As in 2015, the summit is a guest at Schloss Elmau in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From Sunday to Tuesday, the heads of state and government of seven leading industrialized countries and some host countries will meet there. In addition to Germany, the G7 group includes the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan. A total of around 18,000 police officers are on duty around the summit.
With additional material from dpa