Mayor: Extinction Rebellion blockade of A10 ring road will completely disrupt Amsterdam

The planned blockade of the A10 highway as part of a climate protest planned by Extinction Rebellion (XR) for Saturday, December 30, will have an enormous impact on the safety of Amsterdam, and will greatly disrupt the capital, said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. "And I am really concerned about that," Halsema said during a City Council committee meeting on Thursday afternoon.

She was responding to questions from Ja21 Council Member Cas van Berkel about the protest on the A10, which loops around much of Amsterdam.

Last month, the protest group announced the blockade. It was organized in such a way as to be staged near the former ING headquarters on the Zuidas in Amsterdam. The action group has demanded that the bank stop all financing and financial services provided to the fossil fuel sector. The bank has not had a physical presence in the unusually-shaped building in about a decade, though ING still owns the property.

The VU Medical Center, a teaching hospital with emergency room and trauma care facilities, is close to the intended protest location. The mayor and the heads of the local offices of the Public Prosecution Service and the police have extensively prepared for the protest.

"There is contact with Extinction Rebellion, the VU hospital and ING. And let me make no mistake about it: the hospital in particular must remain easily accessible at all times," Halsema said. This means that emergency services and first responders must be able to utilize the A10, she continued. The mayor is also concerned about the safety of demonstrators themselves, and she pointed out that police capacity is under additional strain at the end of the December due to New Year's Eve.

Halsema is not looking forward to the action. She did emphasize that the A10 is not supposed to be a location for demonstrations, but at the same time, the city has a reputation to uphold in protecting the right to demonstrate.

She also noted that ING's head office has not been located along that highway for a long time. "So there is no direct relationship with the location and the purpose for which the demonstration is taking place."