Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) spoke for two hours on Tuesday with the climate activists of the "Last Generation". That's how much time the minister gives to the fewest guests. Earlier, he had said what he hoped to get out of it: "Listening to others is one of the most important tasks in democracy." At the same time, he made it clear that he himself did not feel heard or at least misunderstood by the activists.

Friederike Haupt

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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It is "a bit strange" that the minister who introduced the 9-euro ticket and now the 49-euro ticket – i.e. himself – has to listen to the fact that he should do something for the transport turnaround. So they had already talked indirectly, but past each other. The face-to-face interview was a first.

The activists were quite satisfied afterwards. They had sent three people to the ministry who differed from the roadblockers in that they were dressed the way you are dressed when you have an appointment in a ministry. One of them, Lea Bonasera, who is one of the activists' masterminds, described the meeting with Wissing in her subsequent appearance before the assembled press as "humanly respectful and extremely productive". A second meeting has been arranged for mid-May. However, the protest actions would continue as before.

Bonasera said she likes to compare the tactics of the "last generation" with the strategy in labor disputes. "Without a good union strike, there can be no good collective bargaining." However, the comparison is misleading, partly because the activists, as negotiators, do not represent a much larger group that would have legitimized them, but only themselves.

Certain contradictions

A spokeswoman for the activists, on the other hand, said they wanted to talk to the minister "on an equal footing". The "last generation" had entered the conversation "very, very openly". Already in November, such a meeting had been requested by e-mail and telephone, but no response had been received. After Wissing then publicly criticized the fact that the activists did not seek the conversation, the request was renewed and received a positive decision.

The interest in a conversation did not stop the activists in recent months from defiling the ministry building with paint and moving in with jackhammers to tear up the street in front of it, which the police prevented.

A certain contradiction arises from what the "last generation" demands and what they expect from the conversations with politicians. While the activists praise being in a "constructive exchange" with Wissing about "how to create something together," they claim elsewhere that the federal government is breaking the constitution and will not act fast enough anyway if the pressure is not great enough because of influential lobbyists and general brashness.

On the one hand, they know that they need more support from the population in order to make reliable demands. The activists cite studies according to which between half a percent and 3.5 percent of Germans would have to take part in the actions in order for them to really make a difference. On the other hand, there are no signs that this will happen.

On Tuesday afternoon, the activist Bonasera tried to dispel the impression that the meeting was just a PR campaign, as the AfD claimed. It was certainly about content, such as the demands of the activists for a speed limit on motorways, a new edition of the 9-euro ticket and the establishment of a social council. Once again, it was possible to make it clear how important it is to act quickly. Other activists distributed leaflets calling for protest during the conversation.