They penetrated the safety perimeter, got past two security checks and unfurled their banners on the red carpet, where Brown, Sarkozy, Merkel and other leaders of the EU member states had just passed or were expect to arrive.
The Brussels police, who were in charge of the outermost perimeter, maintain they did not fail in their duties: ‘the badges were so well-faked that any policeman would have let the vehicles through’. Greenpeace did not deny that badges were forged using a colour printer, but state that all the badges bore the logo of Greenpeace and were in the names of the activists. ‘The point is that our badges were never checked’! The laconic reaction of the security company, which is responsible for guarding the Justus Lipsius building was ‘that vehicles let through by the police are a part of the official delegation'.
The question of how the safety buffers failed and the three Mercedes vans holding the 11 protestors calmly rode amongst the convoy of heads of state and government leaders to reach the red carpet will now be the subject of an inquiry. The activists were arrested and charged with forging documents, using forged papers and interfering with public office. They have all been released. ‘I think we have to be grateful to Greenpeace for making clear that the safety buffers around the building where the European heads of state and governments regularly meet, are a complete farce. Thank God it was Greenpeace and not Al Qaeda’, a European Council official said.
The Belgian Prime-Minister, Guy Leterme told the media that he didn’t blame the hard working policemen, ‘nobody is perfect and everybody can make a mistake!’. The question is whether this answer will satisfy the authorities in Paris, London, Berlin and other important European capitals. Anyhow, it was a bad start for Herman van Rompuy, former Belgian Prime-Minister who had his first session as President of the European Council.
