Cameras installed on A4 and A44 as Extinction Rebellion targets NATO Summit routes

Haarlemmermeer is deploying additional surveillance cameras to monitor the roads from Schiphol to The Hague during the NATO summit next week. The municipality stated that it is "plausible that potentially disruptive actions will take place along the route between Schiphol and The Hague." This comes after Extinction Rebellion have threatened to block the A44 motorway during the summit. "They will suffer the consequences of this," the justice minister has said in response to the plans.

The “chain of cameras” will also be added to the roads by the Polderbaan runway of Schiphol. This runway will be used for the arrival and departure of world leaders. Cameras will also be added to the A4 and A44 motorways. These motorways are largely closed to the public as the participants in the summit will be using these roads to go to and from the summit.

The municipality said that for the “safe transport of various highly elected officials,” it is important that they can be transported without delays or disruptions. “It is important to identify potentially disruptive actions as quickly as possible in order to prevent them or to be able to respond with the shortest possible response time.”

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is planning on blocking the A44 on Monday. The climate activists want to call on the governments of the NATO member states “to do everything possible to stop the worsening of the climate and ecological crisis.” XR has not specified in which area of the A44 the blockade is supposed to take place.

Justice minister David van Weel has said that there will be consequences for XR if they decide to block the A44. "In regards to the safety of our guests, we will tolerate very little when it comes to disrupting the movements of the government leaders. don't do it."

The camera surveillance will begin on Friday and will be applied up to next week on Saturday. The NATO Summit begins on Tuesday with a pre-event a dinner with King Willem-Alexander at Huis ten Bosch. The leaders’ meeting takes place on Wednesday.