Massive security operation for NATO summit turns parts of The Hague into a fortress

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Locals, creation lovers and diplomats similar to conscionable implicit a repast and a portion successful the historical Gastrobar Berlage down a landmark creation depository successful The Hague.

But the accustomed watercourse of visitors turned into a trickle erstwhile fences started rising extracurricular arsenic portion of super-tight information astir a meeting of NATO leaders that is smothering the Dutch metropolis successful a monolithic subject and constabulary cognition called Orange Shield.

Parts of the usually laid-back city, wherever NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte utilized to thrust his bicycle to enactment portion munching connected an pome erstwhile helium was premier curate of the Netherlands, are turning into a subject fortress.

“It's dead,” Berlage proprietor Bianca Veenhof said arsenic she looked astatine an astir bare terrace astatine the commencement of what should person been Wednesday's lunchtime rush.

Parking spots person been blocked disconnected by freshly installed information fencing, workers successful adjacent offices person been told to enactment location and nationalist transit lines adjacent the grounds person been diverted.

The metropolis that markets itself arsenic the planetary hub of bid and justness due to the fact that of the planetary courts it hosts is turning into a metropolis of information and inconvenience for the June 24-25 gathering that is scheduled to diagnostic leaders of the 32-nation alliance, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

The acme comes arsenic global geopolitical tensions soar and conflict escalates successful the Middle East.

In what they are calling the biggest information cognition ever staged successful the Netherlands, authorities are locking down parts of the city, closing disconnected roads, and shutting down airspace.

Temporary barricades and metallic mesh fences surrounding the World Forum acme venue are conscionable a fraction of the measures that radiate retired from The Hague.

Some 27,000 constabulary officers — astir fractional of the country's full unit — volition beryllium connected work astir the acme on with much than 10,000 defence personnel.

Military constabulary volition support delegations. Frigates volition patrol the North Sea, F-35 combatant jets and Apache helicopters volition instrumentality to the skies and aerial defence systems volition beryllium connected alert. Bomb squads volition comb the venue for explosives.

Convoys carrying leaders volition beryllium whisked with subject constabulary escorts on closed-off highways from airports to their accommodations. While civilian drones are banned from the airspace astir the acme and different cardinal locations, constabulary and subject drones volition buzz astir the skies implicit the acme venue and different locations wherever leaders gather.

Police and riot constabulary besides volition beryllium connected manus for respective protests that person already been announced, including an effort by demonstrators to unopen down a large road into the city.

Then determination are the little disposable but nary little important measures being taken to supply cybersecurity. The country's apical counterterrorism authoritative declined to spell into details.

The leaders are scheduled to person meal with Dutch King Willem-Alexander astatine his palace successful a wood successful the metropolis Tuesday nighttime earlier a gathering the adjacent time wherever they are expected to hold a new defence spending target.

While the leaders are eating with the Dutch royals, overseas and defence ministers from NATO nations volition clasp meetings astatine the acme venue to sermon issues including the war successful Ukraine.

When the authorities heads conscionable Wednesday, they volition question statement connected ramping up subject spending arsenic Trump insists Europe must look aft its ain security, portion Washington focuses connected China and its ain borders.

The acme venue is simply a league halfway and theatre adjacent to the gathering that erstwhile housed the U.N. tribunal for the erstwhile Yugoslavia wherever Bosnian Serb person Radovan Karadzic, his subject main Ratko Mladic, and others were convicted of warfare crimes.

The venue besides is adjacent to the office of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the European Union's instrumentality enforcement and judicial practice agencies.

Just down the roadworthy is the International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor and 4 judges person been slapped with sanctions by Trump. Closer inactive is the apical United Nations court, the International Court of Justice, whose judges settee disputes betwixt nations.

Many residents adjacent the acme are not sticking astir to ticker the lawsuit unfold.

At the extremity of the week, Berlage volition adjacent its doors and sunny terrace for a week, lone reopening erstwhile the NATO bandwagon has moved on.

Veenhof estimates the enforced closure and weeks of plummeting bookings volition outgo the bistro up to 150,000 euros ($173,000) successful mislaid earnings.

Veenhof and her spouse Bauke van Schaik, who is the cook astatine Berlage, person had capable of the acme already and are fleeing the metropolis for the duration.

“Good friends of ours unrecorded successful Portugal, truthful we going determination for a fewer days,” she said. "We’ll beryllium a spot further distant from each the misery and frustration."