< http://www.euobserver.com > Police and protestors seek peaceful demonstrations
The police expect 30,000 demonstrators to be in Brussels on Thursday, about 20,000 on Friday and 10,000 on Saturday. A spokesperson from Oxfam Solidarité said that up to 40,000 protestors are expected in the city, and some estimates put this figure even higher.
As thousands of activists prepare to demonstrate against the European Union at this weekend's Laeken summit, both the demonstration organisers and the police are determined to make the protests a success, and to avoid a repeat of the violence seen at both the G8 summit in Genoa and the EU summit in Gothenburg.
Trouble not expected The organisers of the protests and the Brussels police reject speculation that there will be wide-spread violence this weekend. A spokesperson for the police told the EUobserver.com that there may be isolated incidents of violence by small groups of demonstrators, but organised riots similar to those that took place in Sweden and Italy are not expected.
Dialogue with police Over the past few months, the Brussels police have been engaged in extensive talks with organisers of the demonstrations in order to find a way of maintaining the peace at Laeken. The police welcome the outcome of the talks, which concluded last Wednesday, but the demonstrators are less happy.
"Usually at these summits, agreement is reached between police and protestors weeks in advance," said Adam White from Oxfam Solidarité, who has been involved in the police negotiations. "But final agreement was only reached on Wednesday."
The main sticking point was with the mayor of Brussels, who insisted that the activists could not demonstrate directly outside the summit walls, which a number of protest organisations wanted. A spokesperson from D14, co-ordinating many of the protest groups, told the EUobserver.com that on Friday a group of protestors planned to march from so-called "Little Castle" in Brussels, which provides temporary housing for refugees, to the "Big Castle" at Laeken, where the EU summit is taking place. Police refused to let demonstrators walk up to the "big castle", but agreed to allow protests one street away from the summit.
"We are not happy with this compromise," said the D14 spokesman. "We told the police that we would accept it, but in principle we do not. It is a democratic right to be able to demonstrate anywhere and go anywhere, and express the feelings that we want to in the way that we want to."
Direct action and civil disobedience D14, and other protest organisations, favour direct action and civil disobedience as forms of protests, although stress that such civil disobedience will be non-violent. A few months ago, D14 was considering breaching police lines in order to try and get as close to the summit as possible. Protestors in Gothenburg in June also attempted to breach police lines and "storm" the EU summit, just before the streets erupted in violence.
D14 have now backed down and say that they will not deliberately try and provoke the police. However, whilst their official position is one of peaceful non-provocative demonstration, a member of the organisation told the EUobserver.com that they will not prevent individual protest groups from trying to break into the summit.
Police activity The Belgian police have given the demonstrators assurances that they will maintain a low profile during the protests at Laeken. They will maintain the peace by staying in the background and taking care not to provoke activists. They hope that a buffer can be maintained between the police and the protestors, so that the two sides have minimal contact. However, a police spokesperson told the EUobserver.com that the authorities are fully prepared to deal with any incidents of violence that may occur, although for security reasons the police refused to give any further details.
Thousands of protestors expected Estimates of how many protestors will be turning up over the weekend vary greatly. The police expect 30,000 demonstrators to be in the city on Thursday, about 20,000 on Friday and 10,000 on Saturday. A spokesperson from Oxfam Solidarité said that up to 40,000 protestors are expected in the city, and some estimates put this figure even higher.
Problems for protestors to get their message across There are fears among the demonstration organisers that any form of violence will detract from the very important message that the activists are trying to get across, as it did at Gothenburg. There is a growing awareness that the mainstream media is only keen on covering demonstrations when they become violent. And, when they become violent, the public loses sympathy with their cause. "This is a problem that we really need to resolve," one activist told the EUobserver.com.
A wide range of demonstrations are taking place in Laeken between 13-15 December. There are marches, street parties, seminars and many more activities organised by groups all across Europe. Further details are available from D14, NGO Forum and the trade unions.
Written by Blake Evans-Pritchard Edited by Lisbeth Kirk
Website European Trade Union Confederation - http://www.etuc.org/ D14 - http://www.d14.be/ NGO Forum - http://www.ngoforum.be/