European Union Lawmakers Arrested Protesting US Nuclear Weapons in Belgium
“I have been arrested for breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against the stockpiling of American nuclear bombs.” This dramatic declaration came from Molly Scott Cato, a Green Party member of the European Parliament (MEP) who represents southwest England, and who joined two other parliamentarians and members of the Belgian peace group Agir Pour la Paix (Act for Peace) in a February 20 protest at Kleine Brogel air base in eastern Belgium.
Ms. Cato, 55, from Bristol, and two other MEPs boldly scaled a 7-foot fence and walked directly onto the runway used by F-16 fighter jets. Holding a banner calling for a “Nuclear free zone for Europe,” they symbolically blocked the runway to demand the ouster of US nuclear weapons from Europe. A fourth Green Party parliamentarian, Thomas Waitz from Austria, was arrested along with 11 members of Action for Peace at a simultaneous protest outside the base, The Guardian reported. The MEPs were arrested and released.
The lawmakers - Michèle Rivasi of France, Tilly Metz from Luxembourg, and Ms. Cato - all represent Green parties, and Rivasi is the Vice-Chairperson of the Green Party caucus in the European Parliament. The Greens have 51 of the EP’s 751 seats.
According to a press release from the Greens and the European Free Alliance, the action was based on three demands: the withdrawal of US nuclear bombs stationed in Europe; the ratification of the Treaty of Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by all European Union Member States; and the creation of a nuclear weapon-free zone for Europe. Kleine Brogel is one of six European air bases that deploy and train in the use of US B61 nuclear weapons.
Read more: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2019/02/28/16178_european_union_lawmakers_arrested_protesting_us
