The SPIEGEL G-8 Round-Up
More Violence in Rostock as Evening Protest Approaches
A protest in Rostock on Monday once again turned violent with black-clad left-wingers flinging bottles at police. More from the so-called Black Bloc have descended on the town just in time for a demonstration on Monday evening.
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Police and demonstrators clashed once again on Monday in Rostock.
This time, the police were expecting the violence. Even as protesters gathered in Rostock on Monday for the third day in a row, the tension in the air was obvious. Two days after some of the worst rioting Germany has seen in decades hit the northern German town, radical leftist rioters from the so-called Black Bloc once again went after police.
As on Saturday, the demonstration began peacefully. Some 1,000 protesters briefly blockaded the local immigration office to object to the way G-8 countries handle asylum seekers and to demand greater openness in Germany's immigration laws. Among those gathered were members of the violence-prone Black Bloc.
The police were ready for them, having discarded their pre-G-8 plan to focus on de-escalation for a more energetic strategy aimed at massive and immediate reaction. A number of water cannons were in place along with hundreds of police in riot gear.
In the end, the violence amounted to some extended scuffling, a few bottles being thrown through the air, and only a very few injuries. Police arrested four demonstrators.
Ominously, however, police said they have information that Black Bloc members are travelling to Rostock from all over Germany for this week's protests. And many of them seem already to have arrived. Organizers are expecting some 20,000 demonstrators to show up on Monday evening for a protest in Rostock, but police are saying on Monday afternoon that some 2,500 Black Bloc members are in town preparing for the evening's march.
A LOOK AT G-8 PROTEST GROUPS
Most G-8 protest groups can be included in the anti-globalization camp. Unfair G-8 trade policies and market liberalization contribute to social and economic inequality, which perpetuates a host of other problems, they say. Attac and Move Against G-8 are two of the larger groups protesting globalization.
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Attac, WWF, and Germanwatch are a few of the groups who will be demonstrating for the G-8 to commit to a policy to fight climate change and develop renewable energy. Because they emit the majority of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, protesters say G-8 countries are responsible for solving the problem.
The Jubilee Debt Campaign and Oxfam are among G-8 critics who say the world trade policies of rich industrialized nations are perpetuating poverty in developing nations. Groups are focusing mainly on debt-relief for impoverished countries, health and education aid, and fair trade policies to ease the desperation in countries they feel the G-8 continues to take advantage of.
FREIeHEIDe, Oxfam, religious groups and others are critical of G-8 country involvement in world conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to their contribution to arms sales. Exporting weapons directly contributes to conflicts which lead to poverty, environmental destruction, human rights violations, refugee crises, and general instability, protest groups say.
The label "autonomen" refers to radical libertarian and anarchist groups in Germany, though it doesn't refer to a specific, organized group. Like many on Germany's well-established, left-wing fringe, the autonomen grew out of the leftist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. They often take part in demonstrations against atomic energy and also frequently join peace marches. They are not always welcome participants in such demonstrations due to their willingness to participate in violence. Indeed, they have also been called the "Black Bloc" because of their tendency to wear all black and to cover their faces with black masks during demonstrations to avoid being identified by the authorities. While autonomen generally recognize that complete independence of social networks is not possible, they reject outside influence as much as possible. The autonomen are considered potentially the most violent of the anti-G-8 activists and were likely behind the rioting on Saturday afternoon in Rostock.
Smaller groups and NGO's who plan to protest and lobby at the summit include anti-racists, anti-capitalists, feminists, trade unions, agrigulture groups, ant-fascists, human rights groups, immigrant and refugee advocates, and religious groups, among others.
Many groups have banded together to create blanket organizations in order to facilitate mass protests of the summit. The largest among these are Move Against G8, Dissent! G8, Block G8, and the Avanti Projekt. While the agendas of the individual groups may differ, every blanket group aims to reject the legitimacy of the G-8 and its policies, often citing the G-8 as the cause of their group issues.
On Monday morning march carried on to the so-called "Sonnenblumenhaus" -- or Sun Flower House -- where neo-Nazis attacked Vietnamese refugees in 1992. The attack lasted an entire day and culminated with the home for asylum seekers being set on fire. Locals cheered on the neo-Nazis throughout the day and the police and fire departments were accused of not having reacted quickly enough to the violence.
-- Charles Hawley, 4:00 p.m. CET
Germany Cutting No Corners on Security
With world leaders arriving in northern Germany this week for the G-8 summit on the Baltic Sea coast, police are cutting no corners when it comes to security. Over the weekend, they upped their readiness once again. SPIEGEL Online has collected images of the biggest police mobilization in Germany since World War II.
Heiligendamm Summit Spawns G-8 Themed Products
Those anti-G-8 protesters gathered around Heiligendamm in the hope of bringing about the downfall of world capitalism -- or at least getting over the security fence -- will be gnashing their teeth upon learning that the much-hated summit has spawned a series of spin-off consumer goods. The fact that G-8-themed chocolates, beer and sausages are being manufactured by local firms in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the summit is being held, will only confirm protesters' suspicions that the all-pervasive market will try to commercialize anything.
Far-left anarchists may find that the G-8 chocolates produced by the Rostock firm de Prie -- which feature, appropriately, a large number eight -- leave a bitter taste in their mouths. However company boss Ulrich Deprie told the German news agency DPA that he hoped the candies would meet with approval on all sides of the political spectrum. "Even opponents of the G-8 like chocolate," he said.
A G-8 SUMMIT PRIMER
The Group of Eight (G-8) includes many of the world's most powerful industrial democracies: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. The European Union also participates, represented by the president of the European Commission and the President of the EU, but is not an official member.
Each head of state has a personal representative, with the metaphorical title of "Sherpa," who meet with other delegates throughout the year to prepare policy decisions for the G-8 Summit. The actual summit is attended by heads of state.
The G-8 is an "informal forum of heads of state" without an administrative structure or offices. The summit agenda is administered by the year's president and host.
As this year's host country, Germany has announced an agenda which focuses on climate change prevention and the need for a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012. Stabilizing the world economy with sustainable energy policy, development and HIV prevention aid in Africa, anti-product piracy strategy, and security policy are also among topics Germany plans to address.
In the last several years, the high-profile G-8 has become the focus of demonstrations and lobbyists, especially by critics of globalization, who say the G-8 are the cause of the very problems they've set out to solve. Other critics object to the exclusive membership of the group. The concentration of Western powers and the exclusion of countries like Spain and China mean the group no longer represents the world's true economic superpowers, critics contend.
Each year, a different member country assumes the G-8 presidency in January, and hosts a series of high-level meetings for member representatives leading up to the annual summit, which is attended by heads of state. The 2007 summit will be held June 6-8.
This year Germany is hosting the 33rd summit at Heiligendamm, the country's oldest beach resort, which is in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the Baltic Sea. The entire resort has been blocked off by a 12-kilometer-long razor wire fence to prevent demonstrators from getting too close to the venue.
The G-8 originated in 1973, when the oil crisis and subsequent economic recession prompted the US to host informal meetings for world leaders to discuss relevant issues. In 1975, France invited the US, the UK, West Germany, Italy and Japan to a summit, called the Group of Six, where the countries agreed on an annual meeting and a rotating presidency. Canada joined the next year, forming the G-7. In 1997, Russia joined the group -- a decision which is still contested by some -- forming what is currently known as the G-8.
Together, the eight countries produce more than half of the world's economic production, and represent a powerhouse of political influence. Summit topics have evolved from purely economic concerns to include political agendas such as poverty, terrorism, and climate change.
The chocolates seem specifically designed to cause factional disputes among leftist groups. They may represent a symbol of the hated military-industrial complex, but they are also designed to appeal to advocates of green consumerism -- they are made with organic fair-trade cocoa.
Meanwhile those Black Bloc members looking for a bit of Dutch courage to prepare them for a bout of stone throwing may want to pick up a few cases of "Gipfelbock" the next time they loot a local supermarket. The beer, which has been brewed in the Baltic coast town of Kühlungsborn specially for the summit, packs a whopping 6.8 percent alcohol -- just the thing to dull the pain of blows from police clubs.
However left-wing drinkers may be put off by the beer's biggest market niche. "The best customers have been police from all over Germany," brewery boss Ulrich Langer told DPA. "They've been buying large quantities as a souvenir of their deployment here."
Vegetarians and vegans among the protesters will have their beliefs about the cruelty inherent in capitalism confirmed by another tie-in product: a G-8 sausage selection. Even worse, the product, which is made by Wismar-based firm Fleischwaren GmbH, contains a tribute to their arch-enemy -- a wild boar sausage inspired by George W. Bush. The US president professed a liking for
the barbecued wild boar Angela Merkel served him during his visit last year to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
-- David Gordon Smith, 3:30 p.m. CET
More Hot Air from G-8 Summit
Combating climate change is high up on the agenda at the summit but the meeting itself will contribute to global warming.
A study by Munich-based corporate consultancy ClimatePartner commissioned by DER SPIEGEL estimates that the jets of the government leaders to and from Rostock-Laage airport and back will produce 7,138 tons of carbon dioxide.
On top of that, a further 5,000 tons of CO2 will be produced by the visitors flying in from five emerging economies, from Africa, Brussels and from the United Nations in New York.
Each of the eight summit nations is sending a delegation of "23 plus 1 persons" -- except for the US delegation, which is twice as large and includes the armored presidential limosine.
CO2 will also be produced by the helicopters and vehicles. The transport and overnight accommodation of 16,000 police officers and engineers will produce 3,300 tons of CO2. The manufacture and installation of the 12-kilometer security fence around the conference site has added a further 8,000 tons.
Anti-G-8 demonstrations are also harmful to the climate. The estimated 100,000 protesters will produce an estimated 1,600 tons of CO2. The accredited 4,700 journalists will contribute some 1,000 tons.
In total, the three-day summit will produce 30,000 tons of CO2 -- around a third of the CO2 output of last year's four-week soccer World Cup in Germany.
"That's a conservative estimate," said ClimatePartner Chief Executive Moritz Lehmkuhl.
-- SPIEGEL Staff, 2:30 p.m. CET
AP
This clown was protesting against McDonald's. Many of his fellow demonstrators were inside eating.
Happy Meals for Anti-Globalization Activists
What to do if you're protesting against globalization and you start to get hungry? If you planned ahead, you simply pull your sandwich out of your pocket. If you didn't, the northern German city of Rostock over the weekend was not exactly the place to go looking for a bite -- most of the city's myriad restaurants and mini-eateries shut their doors out of fear of rioting.
But not all Rostock restaurants were closed on Saturday. As it happened, a number of fast-food chains kept their doors open. And the result was a sight to see: Long lines of hungry anti-G-8 activists, globalization skeptics and big-business nullifidians stood patiently waiting for burgers and pizza in front of McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut. Down the road, dozens of others were ducking into service stations belonging to French oil giant Total for a quick snack.
Meanwhile, the super-sized demonstration was parading by outside shouting "Stop Capitalism," and "Down with Globalization." Would you like fries with that?
-- Charles Hawley, 1:30 p.m. CET
© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2007
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