About 100 Dutch climate activists arrested during street blockade in Berlin

About 100 Dutch people demonstrated in Berlin on Saturday afternoon to demand more action against climate change. Some of the climate protesters were arrested. They joined activists from the environmental action group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) who blocked parts of a major connecting road in the center of the German capital.

The police intervened during the afternoon after climate activists had glued themselves to the asphalt. Anna Grothauzen of Extinction Rebellion (XR) said that Dutch people have also been arrested, mainly for not following police orders. It is not known how many Dutch people have been arrested. However, Grothauzen thinks it concerns dozens.

Grothauzen said this was the first mass arrest by the Last Generation, which usually carries out smaller actions. The German environmental group was inspired by XR's daily occupation of the A12 in The Hague. They wanted to adopt this type of campaign, said Grothauzen. XR was present in Berlin, among other places, to advise them. Grothauzen also stated that Last Generation chose a protest theme this time, namely the abolition of fossil fuel subsidies, as is the case in the Netherlands.

After three years of campaigning against fossil subsidies, the Tweede Kamer has asked the Cabinet to come up with a phase-out plan for fossil subsidies. This decision came after 27 days of A12 blockades in a row in September and October, with a total of more than 9,000 arrests. In response to this, Extinction Rebellion has decided to temporarily suspend the A12 blockades, according to the press release of the climate action group.

According to Grothauzen, the police in Germany work somewhat differently than in the Netherlands. But the violence they use is more or less the same. According to a reporter from the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, several activists were carried away by the police. One demonstrator cried out in pain during the process.

A 29-year-old Dutch woman told the newspaper she was disappointed in the German police. "It's a peaceful demonstration, there's no reason to evict us. It would have been better if the German police had allowed our democratic right to demonstrate."

The environmental action took place on Saturday on the “Straße des 17. Juni”, the thoroughfare leading from West Berlin to the Brandenburg Gate near the German parliament building. The number of participants fluctuated, according to those involved. The organizations speak of 1,000 to 1,500 participants. The German police put the number at about 600 people.