2009-03-08
France - French authorities expect violent protests during a NATO summit in Strasbourg next month, the mayor of the eastern French city said Sunday.
Security measures put in place for the April 3 and 4 gathering of the alliance’s 26 leaders “go far beyond what I had imagined,” said Mayor Roland Ries.
“I really do think that there is a very real risk of seeing peaceful protests denegerate into violence because of hooligans and anarchists who will come from across Europe,” Ries told AFP.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will mark its 60th anniversary and discuss Afghanistan at the summit in Strasbourg and in Kehl across the border in Germany.
The Strasbourg mayor said protesters will have no access to the summit venue in the centre of the city, but declined to provide details on specific planning.
“In terms of security measures and disruption caused to citizens during these two days of the summit, they go far beyond what I had imagined,” Ries told AFP.