In Germany, a village rebelled after learning that there would be a coal mine on the site of residential buildings

According to Reuters, the police on Wednesday began dismantling the previously erected barricades in the way of bulldozers and are detaining the most active protesters who organized a sit-in the day before.

Residents of the village oppose the expansion of the open-pit brown coal mine, believing that Berlin is trying to solve the country's energy problems at the expense of ordinary Germans.

The police announced that the issue with the village has been resolved and the mine will be modernized and expanded in any case, and the area around it is fenced – this is the decision of the authorities.

The protesters, the Associated Press writes, were joined by environmentalists and conservationists who said that an increase in coal production at the Harzweiler mine would lead to huge greenhouse gas emissions. The local government and the RWE utility company, which is engaged in the demolition of the village, assert their own: coal replaces gas well and its extraction is necessary to ensure the energy security of Germany.

Last year, RWE leaders reached an agreement with the regional government that allows the destruction of the village in exchange for ending the use of coal by 2030.

Local police chief Dirk Weinspach said that the security forces are preparing to forcibly seize the village and the territory of the coal mine.