DENMARK: A forum, set up to co-ordinate the now customary street protests, is in dialogue with police to try and avoid violence, writes Brendan Killeen in Copenhagen
As European Union heads of state prepare to jet into Copenhagen to attend the final summit of the Danish EU presidency on Saturday, the city prepares for the arrival of thousands of protesters from around Europe for the - now traditional - street demonstrations.
In an attempt to avoid the violent scenes that have marked major meetings of the EU, the G8 and the World Bank in recent years, organisers of the main demonstration have established the Non-Government Organisation Forum. The forum is a temporary organisation, representing 70 groups, set up for the duration of the Danish EU presidency to co-ordinate protests under a "stop the violence" slogan. The forum was established after several protesters were shot by Swedish police in riots during the final summit of the Swedish EU presidency in Gothenburg in June 2001 and after a protester was shot dead by Italian police at a G8 summit in Genoa in July of the same year.
The forum, which is being financed by Danish trade unions, the City of Copenhagen and the Danish Foreign Ministry, has established a dialogue with the Copenhagen Police force in an attempt to avoid a re-run of Gothenburg and Genoa.
"We have had an ongoing dialogue with chief police inspector, Kai Vitrup, second in command in the Copenhagen police force and the person in charge of security during the summit. The whole idea of the forum came about as a result of the chaos in Sweden. It's an attempt to avoid the same thing happening here," said Rune Lund, a 25-year-old political science student, who has taken time off from his studies to work with the forum.
Several hundred volunteers have been trained as demonstration guards. They will not intervene if trouble breaks out but several of them will be in contact with the police to ensure a dialogue exists at all times.
"Our influence is limited but at least we can create a climate of non-violent civil disobedience. Some of the more hardcore anarchist movements are not used to this but more and more groups are expressing a desire to avoid violence because it undermines the messages they want to get across," said Mr Lund.
"The Danish police have said they will not be adopting a zero tolerance approach. They will tolerate acts of civil disobedience, such as blocking streets, but will not tolerate violence. If violence breaks out, they will move in. But, crucially they have promised to keep talking to us and we will be in contact with Kai Vitrup at all times. The dialogue means that there are not so many myths on both sides," said Mr Lund.
However, the dialogue in itself does not guarantee a peaceful protest. Similar talks before the Gothenburg demonstrations in June 2001 were called off shortly before events were due to take place, according to Mr Michael Allan, a member of the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens, a global organisation that regularly participates in anti-globalisation protests.
"The police who were involved in the dialogue in Gothenburg were replaced. Suddenly, as groups started to arrive from all over Europe, the police contacts were gone and the dialogue was gone. That was a political decision. If the politicians can do that once - albeit in another country - they can do it again. If the Danish government do it, then we have a real problem," said Mr Allan.
There has also been friction between the forum and the Danish Intelligence Service, known as PET, as a result of the service's attempts to recruit informers from amongst the various organisations' grassroots, said Mr Lund.
"The intelligence services have been contacting people at home. We are not satisfied that they are finding out where people live, calling to their doors and asking for information or assistance. To register someone because of their political affiliations is illegal. They can come and have a coffee with us and we'll explain everything. We also suspect that they are tapping phones. I can't imagine that my phone isn't tapped. While our relationship is good with the police it's bad with the intelligence services and that is undermining some of the good work that has been done," he said.
However, the forum recently met a deputation from the Danish parliament's justice committee to make their concerns clear before this weekend's events and Mr Lund is confident their concerns were taken into account.
Estimates put the crowd expected on Saturday afternoon at anywhere between 5,000 and 25,000. Events have been planned from midnight tomorrow and will continue throughout the weekend. However, Saturday is the big day as a rainbow coalition of protest groups takes to the streets, among them: anti-EU and globalisation-sceptical groups, environmentalists and anti-racists groups, feminists, students and trade unionists. Of course, with daytime temperatures dropping below zero the constant threat of snow may put some protesters off. In that case, the police may have nothing more to worry about other than keeping warm.