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Travel Advisory- France & Germany April 1-5

Below is a very detailed travel advisory I recieved from US Army Europe. Please, please, please be aware of the upcoming NATO protests. They are expected to be violent.

Travel Guidance - NATO Summit
Situation: Authorities expect 15,000 to 25,000 anti-NATO protestors to hold demonstrations in Strasbourg, France and Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany between 1 and 5 April, as the NATO Summit takes place. Naturally, demonstrations are not limited to these locations, but these are expected to be the largest. Law enforcement anticipates some level of violence associated with these protests, including rock-throwing and improvised firebombs. Many protesters are identified as being distinctly anti-U.S. and could harass or assault U.S. personnel in the vicinity of the summit. Police plan to restrict vehicular and pedestrian traffic in and around these cities for the duration of the summit.
Recommendations: Recommend avoiding travel to the above locations from 1-5> April.

Posted by
9249 posts

Thought I would move both of these notices so that people can read them together.

Posted by
671 posts

Thanks for the warning. Usually, I think we try too hard not to look American, but in this case, try to avoid if you are American or do your best to blend in.

Posted by
16413 posts

Cate, the people at these rallies who are violent don't care if you're American, Canadian, Samoan, Argentiian or Buddhist monk. They want to be violent and will attack anyone they think is not one of them.

It's best to avoid these types of areas completely if you can. Anyway, I would guess most stores and sites in those major areas would shut down for those few days.

Now, that doesn't mean you avoid Europe for those days...just Strasbourg, Kehl and Baden-Baden.

Plus, rallies, in general attract pickpockets. People are so absorbed watching what's going on, the pickpockets make themselves at home.