Union politician warns of climate extremism after attacks on substations

After attacks on substations in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, the deputy chairman of the Union parliamentary group, Günter Krings, warned against “tacit approval” of such actions and called for tougher action against climate extremism. The attacks on the power grid in several federal states had a “terrorist quality,” the CDU politician told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”.

“The harsh criminal offenses must be consistently applied here to protect our constitutional and democratic order,” he demanded.

In the past few days, attacks have been carried out on substations in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. On Saturday, a total of twelve explosive devices were discovered at two substations in Saxony. The police are looking for a 48-year-old from Gevelsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia who left two letters of confession that are believed to be authentic.

Regarding the motive, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said it was most likely “climate terrorism” by a lone perpetrator. A letter of responsibility states: “Generating electricity from fossil fuels is a crime.”

As a result of the incidents, NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) called for critical infrastructure to be better protected. This requires clear rights and modern technology, such as cameras, sensors and alarm systems.

“In this way we make it unnecessarily easy for assassins”

The head of the transmission system operator Amprion, Christoph Müller, also sees a political challenge. "The economy has to make a lot of information about electricity and gas networks public and put it online. In this way, we are making it unnecessarily easy for attackers - no matter where they come from," Müller told the "Rheinische Post". He called for relaxed transparency regulations and permission to regularly fly over and monitor lines with drones. Companies must also be allowed to use cameras to observe not only their own premises, but also the surrounding area.