International

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people formed a human chain between the German city of Aachen, the Dutch city of Maastricht, Belgium’s Liège and the nuclear power station at Tihange. They were protesting against the failure to close the power station, and the SP was well represented amongst them.

Party Chair Ron Meyer, explaining the reasons for the protest, says: “The power station is outmoded and unsafe and has very many defects. If a disaster were to happen 100,000 people would be forced to evacuate, and a huge area would become unliveable for some two hundred years. This massive protest can’t be ignored. The safety of the region and its inhabitants must come first. That’s why we’re going to continue protest actions until the power station is closed down. In Parliament, on the streets and against the pension funds which have invested a quarter of a billion euros in this installation.”

SP Member of Parliament Sandra Beckerman was also at the protest. “When the nuclear reactors were built in Tihange a commitment was made to close them between 2005 and 2015,” she recalls. “They’re past their sell-by date but are kept going because they make money for their owners, despite there being clear alternatives. The power station must be closed, and now. Profits for the owners should never come before the safety of people living in the area.”