In The Hague, climate activists from the group Extinction Rebellion blocked a highway near the government district for the second day in a row. According to the police, there were arrests again.
In protest against the Dutch government’s climate policy, supporters of the group Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked a highway for the second day in a row. The police used water cannons against the climate activists near the parliament and government district, as the NOS broadcaster reported. Emergency services also arrested participants in the protest, the police said.
Previously, The Hague’s mayor Jan van Zanen had approved the forced evacuation of the section of the A12 motorway after demonstrators repeatedly resisted calls to clear the road. As on Saturday, he referred to places in the city where protests against energy policy are officially permitted.
Protest action the day before with 2,400 arrests
There had already been a similar disruption on the A12 the day before. The police broke up the banned climate demonstration and temporarily arrested around 2,400 Extinction Rebellion supporters. According to the police, there were also numerous minors among them. They were taken to a football stadium by bus and almost all were released the same day. Criminal proceedings were opened against a few.
Extinction Rebellion had announced that it would block highways every day until all government subsidies for fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas were removed in the Netherlands. The group accuses the government of failing to keep a promise to eliminate tax breaks and other forms of subsidies for aviation, shipping, fossil fuel power generation and oil production.