Merz blames wildfire on climate change in visit slammed as late

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz blamed damage from a wildfire on climate change as he visited burned woodlands in the Eifel area in a visit many said came too late.

Merz thanked the emergency responders on his trip to Hürtgen Forest in western Germany after his holidays, but protesters booed as he spoke and elsewhere, opposition lawmakers are demanding policy changes.

"We must expect such events to occur more frequently. That is climate change," said Merz in the district of Gey, which was worst hit by the fire last week, during the chancellor's summer break.

It is unclear what caused the fire, whose flames came within 250 metres of people's homes. Residents were evacuated and at times, the fire-fighting effort involved some 1,400 people.

Merz defends visit timing

Some two dozen protesters turned out to demonstrate as Merz spoke at the forest, shouting and whistling. Some held banners saying, "The forest is on fire and Friedrich is sleeping" or "Are you only coming now? Too late." The chancellor retorted that he was focusing on the workers and helpers, not those who were making all the noise.

Merz said he timed his visit after repeated calls to the district administrator, who quoted a local fireman saying he needed not politicians but "people who can hold the fire hose." Any visit would mean hours when fire-fighting would be suspended, he said. Though Merz offered to come earlier, District Administrator Ralf Nolten said, "Come afterwards."

Climate clashes loom

After the wildfires, many lawmakers are demanding Merz do more for the climate. Green Party Bundestag politicians say the government must make a climate emergency plan.

"First and foremost, Friedrich Merz must put a stop to his coalition's anti-climate plans," Green Party group leader Katharina Dröge told dpa. The governing parties "acted as accelerants to the climate crisis. The government needs to make a fundamental change of course immediately," she said.

Dröge called for the Building Modernization Act, the Grid Package, the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Energy Efficiency Act to be withdrawn or fundamentally revised and brought into line with climate targets.

Merz initially faces further discussion on issues of climate change on a Cabinet retreat. But the governing parties may disagree on how to respond. The Social Democrats seek an amendment to the Basic Law to better protect people in the heat and from other impacts of climate change. But Merz's Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, oppose such a step.