4 MEPs arrested in anti-nuke protest in Belgium

Members enter Kleine-Brogel airbase to request withdrawal of 'US nuclear bombs' in Europe

By Serife Cetin

BRUSSELS (AA) - Four members of the European Parliament were arrested on Wednesday for breaking into a Belgian airbase that was allegedly stockpiling nuclear weapons.

“This morning, four Greens/EFA Members of the European Parliament […] entered the Belgian airbase Kleine-Brogel,” said the Green party in a statement.

The members Molly Scott Cato, Michele Rivasi, Tilly Metz and Thomas Waitz were arrested after entering the airbase, it added.

“They were holding banners calling for a 'Nuclear free zone for Europe' and symbolically blocked the runway of the F-16 airbase to request the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear bombs on European soil,” the statement said.

“Our action is intended to challenge EU countries to remove U.S. nuclear weapons from European soil […],” British national Cato was quoted in the statement as saying.

French national Rivasi said that about 20 nuclear weapons in the base were threatening public interest, according to the statement.

Metz and Waitz are from Luxembourg and Austria, respectively.

Kaynak: