BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German government has defended the evacuation of the lignite village of Lützerath in the Rhineland coalfield and sharply criticized violence by protesters. There is a "clear legal situation as far as Lützerath is concerned, and that has to be accepted," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin on Wednesday. The last pending lawsuits against a demolition of the village for coal extraction had been rejected, he said. "In this respect, the federal government expects that the law will be respected." At the same time, Hebestreit stressed that the federal government strongly condemns acts of violence by climate activists against police officers. "We have no understanding for that."

Police had begun clearing the activist-occupied village on Wednesday morning - and had encountered resistance, some of it fierce. According to officials, at the beginning of the operation, Molotov cocktails, stones and pyrotechnics were thrown sporadically in the direction of the forces.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also had strong words to say about the forms of resistance. "Those who erect burning barricades or hide in rickety tree houses put themselves and the emergency forces in great danger," she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). "That is irresponsible." She "has zero understanding for violence - and zero understanding for taking political issues out on the backs of police officers," the interior minister stressed.

In an interview with the TV station Welt, CDU Secretary General Mario Czaja held "young, violent men" in particular responsible for breaking the law. These stayed on the premises despite the ban on entering. The state must react with a "clear edge," Czaja demanded.

The background to the conflict with the climate activists is the goal of the energy company RWE to excavate the coal lying under Lützerath. For this purpose, the hamlet on the territory of the city of Erkelenz is to be demolished. In return, the economics ministries led by the Greens in the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia had agreed with RWE on a coal phase-out brought forward to 2030. In addition, five villages already largely empty at the Garzweiler open pit mine in the neighborhood are to be preserved.

The activists who have been living in empty houses in Lützerath for months reject this compromise and want to oppose the ongoing eviction. They are receiving support from the Green Youth, among others, whose stance openly opposes the line taken by their federal and state party. Both the Green youth in North Rhine-Westphalia and the federal spokeswoman of the Green youth, Sarah-Lee Heinrich, were critical of coal mining in the Rhenish mining area. Many people in Lützerath are disappointed in the Greens, Heinrich emphasized on the ZDF "Morgenmagazin." "We have one headline after the next that we are actually ripping our climate targets in every area."

Co-spokesman Timon Dzienus, who was himself on site during Wednesday's eviction, lamented violence by police forces. "I have seen dozens of hundreds of police brutally storming the site this morning and attacking demonstrators with blows and kicks. I saw many bleeding people here," Dzienus told the Rheinische Post newspaper. "The violence clearly came from the police." Numerous scientists and celebrities also sharply criticized the eviction action in open letters and called for its end.

In contrast, German Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) defended the political action in Lützerath: "It is the right decision, it is a good decision for climate protection," said the Green politician. "It bindingly ends the mining in the Rhenish mining area from 2030. And five localities where people live will be kept." The evacuation of Lützerath was "certainly not nice," Habeck explained further. But a great deal had also been gained./faa/DP/nas