Several thousand activists and supporters of the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked a major highway in the center of The Hague on Saturday September 9 to demand an end to fossil fuel subsidies, threatening to renew their action until they obtained winning the case. According to a press release from XR, around 25,000 people were present at the start of the afternoon. Contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Robin Middel, spokesperson for the mayor of The Hague, speaks of 10,000 to 12,000 people.
Coming from all over the country, the demonstrators have been blocking since the beginning of the afternoon the Utrechtsebaan section of the A12 motorway in the center of The Hague, the city where the Dutch government sits, and where they were received by the guns at police water.
Dozens of people protected themselves from the jets of water, sheltered behind umbrellas, noted an AFP journalist on the spot, who confirmed that the police began to make arrests. Dutch actress Carice van Houten, best known for her role in the series Game of Thrones, already arrested during a similar action in May, was arrested again, spokeswoman Anne Kervers told AFP. of Extinction Rebellion.
“A lot of money is injected from the wrong side. Those who currently use the most fossil fuels are the same ones who get the most grants, which slows down the energy transition,” one of the demonstrators, Katrien Joosten, a 46-year-old architect, told AFP. to observe the advance of the police vans.
This punch action, the eighth of its type in The Hague since July 2022, is even more controversial than the previous ones, XR threatening to leave the scene only when the government gives in to its demands. “No matter what The Hague City Council makes the police do, we will stay or come back every day. And this until the government responds to our demand: the immediate end of all fossil fuel subsidies,” Extinction Rebellion Netherlands warned on its website.
“Disproportionate police deployment”
The authorities fear major traffic disruptions, the A12 being a “gateway” for The Hague and its seaside resort Scheveningen, which has been very busy for several days due to the heat wave which is hitting the region. The four main police unions in the Netherlands called on the government on Friday to urgently enter into dialogue with the organization. “Channeling” the actions of Extinction Rebellion “will require a disproportionate police deployment that the Netherlands can no longer afford”, they said in a joint open letter.
“The Dutch government supports the fossil fuel industry to the tune of €37.5 billion per year,” Extinction Rebellion said in a statement released Friday, citing a recent report by several environmental organizations. “This means that Dutch taxpayers pay around 2,100 euros in financial benefits to large polluting companies every year,” the organization added.
