Greta Thunberg protests in Norway against bus accident with wind farm in Venice: investigation against three suspects

Greta Thunberg and other young activists protested again in Norway against a controversial wind farm and for the rights of indigenous peoples.

About two dozen protesters blocked the main entrance of Statkraft, the main wind turbine operator, in Oslo on Thursday, which is located in a region with many indigenous reindeer herders. In front of them they had spread a banner with the inscription ‘Indigenous rights are not optional’, as live images from the newspaper ‘Verdens Gang’ showed. After arriving by bus, Thunberg initially sat further away with other activists.

“For me it is natural to be here and support the many Sami activists,” Thunberg told reporters. Young activists should not feel forced to participate in such blockades. They protest that the state is violating human rights. “There is no excuse for this,” said the young Swede. The transition to renewable energy sources should not be at the expense of the indigenous population.

Norway’s highest court ruled in October 2021 that the large wind farm on the Fosen Peninsula on the country’s west coast violated the rights of the region’s indigenous peoples, the Sami. The indigenous activists complain that nothing has been done to remove the wind farm since the ruling. According to the NTB news agency, the plant consists of 151 turbines, 80 of which are owned by the state energy company Statkraft.

That is why activists regularly protest, including with the support of Thunberg: she was already at the Fosen protests in Oslo at the end of February. On Wednesday in Malmö, southern Sweden, the 20-year-old was fined for the second time for disobeying law enforcement during a protest against the oil industry in Malmö’s oil port. (saw/sda/dpa)