Norwegian police officers carry Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg away from the Finance Ministry building in Oslo, March 1, 2023.
Oslo – The Norwegian police intervened against the protesters who are blocking the entrance to several government offices in the metropolis of Oslo, and took away from the Ministry of Finance, among other things, the well-known Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. The Norwegian television NRK informed about it. The protesters, many of whom are indigenous, are demanding the wind turbines be removed from pastures traditionally used by indigenous Sami reindeer herders.
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Norway's Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that two wind farms with 151 turbines built in the Fosen area in the central part of the country violated the rights of the Sami under international conventions. But 16 months later, the wind turbines near Trondheim are still in operation.
In previous days, protesters blocked access to the building of the Norwegian Ministry of Energy, which also houses the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Family Affairs, as well as the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance. Today, they extended their protest to the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of the Environment. They say they are ready to paralyze the entire country.
Continuing demonstrations have forced Energy Minister Terje Aasland to cancel an official visit to Britain.
According to NRK television, the police first called on the sitting protesters to leave voluntarily, but they did not respond. Police then began taking the protesters away from the Treasury Department while other protesters chanted. Thunberg, who was sitting in front of the ministry with a Sami flag in her hand, was also taken away.
The young Swede, who is a vocal supporter of ending the world's dependence on coal energy, justified her presence at the demonstration by saying that she cannot switch to green energy be at the expense of the rights of the original inhabitants.
Reindeer herders claim that the sight of the giant machines and the noise they make frighten their animals, and they are not willing to go to the traditional winter pastures in the Fosen region. The Sámi thus have to use dry fodder for their animals in the winter, which is contrary to their traditions and violates the right to maintain the Sámi culture.
Wind park in the Fosen area, which according to Reuters is the largest land-based wind park in Europe , consists of six power plants capable of producing over 1,000 megawatts of electricity. The construction of the park doubled the capacity of wind farms in Norway.
