German government has appealed to a group of climate change activists to end their hunger strike in Berlin, and not to endanger their health.
The government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said this in Berlin on Wednesday, in a political debate on climate protection.
“Every suggestion is welcome, every approach but please, without endangering yourself,’’ he said.
Seibert wished a speedy recovery to a 27-year-old hunger-striker who was taken to a Berlin hospital on Tuesday after refusing food for more than two weeks.
The protest organisers say he had fainted and was unresponsive for some time.
After his release from the hospital, he told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that he would continue the hunger strike.
The activists rejected an offer by the three candidates for chancellor – Armin Laschet from the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) Olaf Scholz and the Greens’ Annalena Baerbock – to hold individual talks after the election.
Protest spokesperson, Hannah Luebbert, said that an honest public exchange about the climate crisis during the election campaign was vital.
She said three candidates had been invited for talks on Sept. 23 and the hunger strike would continue until all three accepted.
The second demand of the participants is the establishment of a “citizens’ council” to decide on immediate measures to tackle climate change.
The hunger strikers have set up a camp near the Reichstag building in central Berlin where the lower house of parliament is located.
Among the original seven people refusing food, one young woman gave up last week for health reasons. (NAN)
