After the climate protest at Schiphol last Saturday, Mayor of Haarlemmermeer Marianne Schuurmans concludes that no agreements can be made with Greenpeace. In a letter to the city council, the mayor writes that she feels misled by the organization.
Greenpeace has “committed criminal offenses under the guise of demonstrating and incited others to do so,” Schuurmans said in the letter. This morning she already said in the Good morning Netherlands program that she wants to get her hands on more resources to be able to prohibit demonstrations in security risk areas.
In the letter, Schuurmans explains that she initially had difficulty with the demonstration, because Greenpeace did not want to reveal anything about their plan and also wanted to keep the date and time secret. In order to assess the security risks, she invited the organization for a personal meeting.
“In that telephone conversation, the information provided was again brief,” the mayor writes. Because Greenpeace promised not to create chaos, not to disrupt Schiphol’s business processes and not to endanger safety, Schuurmans decided not to impose any restrictions. When it became clear on November 4 that Greenpeace was conducting preliminary reconnaissance and wanted to break into the airport grounds, it issued an emergency ordinance.
Agreements violated
Greenpeace violated the agreements made with the municipality and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee when a gate at Schiphol-East was broken open on Saturday around 1 p.m. and climate activists occupied the platform where, among other things, parked private jets are. The activists did not follow the instructions of the Marechaussee when he asked them to leave. This eventually led to hundreds of arrests.
Schuurmans is disappointed: “With Greenpeace, we paid attention to the safety aspect at the front and Greenpeace has indicated that they would adhere to the instructions of the Marechaussee. I therefore conclude that no agreements can be made with Greenpeace and I am of the opinion that this is unacceptable in a security risk area!”
Greenpeace informed NH Nieuws earlier today that it will not be stopped by Schuurmans in the future. “If Schiphol continues to pollute without a climate plan, we will definitely come back.”