Greta Thunberg was hauled off by police in Norway on Wednesday during a protest against a wind turbine project in the country’s north.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was removed from an entrance to the Norwegian finance ministry on Wednesday while taking part in a protest against the construction of what would be Europe’s largest wind farm project.
Although often on the side of the green agenda activists, Thunberg has this time decided to resist the building of the massive wind farm in Norway’s northern region due to fear it will interfere with the way of life of the Sami, an ethnic minority that lives in Europe’s arctic regions.
Norway’s Supreme Court already ruled in 2021 that the project’s construction does indeed violate the rights of the Sami people, though this has seemingly not stopped the continued construction of the Wind Farm.
According to a report by POLITICO, activists have now begun blockading various entrances to Norwegian government departments, with protests reportedly starting in front of the country’s energy ministry last week, before spreading to others in Oslo on Tuesday.
Police in the country have now stepped in to intervene in the protests, hauling protesters away from the entrances of the Ministry of Finance before depositing them someplace else.
One of those removed during the police operation was Thunberg, who is described as being removed two times from the entrances of the government department.
According to police in Oslo, a total of 10 people including the Swedish activist were removed from at least one entrance to the Ministry of Finance, though none were said to have been detained by the force.
The demonstrations are a relatively unusual one for Greta Thunberg to attend, with the arch-green agenda champion more often taking part in protests pushing for more wind turbines to be made — along with other renewable sources of energy — not for construction to stop.
Unusual or not however, the demonstrations appear to be having an effect on political life in Norway, with the country’s Oil and Energy Minister, Terje Aasland, announcing on Wednesday that he was cancelling an upcoming trip to the United Kingdom seemingly in response to the protests.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Aasland’s office said that the trip was cancelled after the minister decided to “reprioritise” his calendar, with another government official now set to travel to Britain in his place.
How effective Aasland’s presence will be in the country remains to be seen though, with a meeting he had with some of the protesters on Tuesday appearing only to enflame tensions after the minister insisted that his government would make a “new decision” on the wind farm, though refused to give specific details.
“[O]ur will to fight is only growing after Terje Aasland’s visit with the same empty words as always,” activists reportedly said in a statement after their talk with Aasland.
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