Protestors and police both claim G8 victory

Protesters claimed victory over police guarding the G8 summit in Germany after three days of blocking roads, defiantly demonstrating at the security fence protecting the world leaders and even leading police on a spectacular high-seas boat chase.

But police say their policy of “de-escalation” worked – allowing the protests to proceed so long as they remained peaceful, even in the banned zone around the fence – but cracking down hard when things started to get out of control.

They managed to prevent a repeat of the bloody riots in Rostock last weekend.

“Beforehand, we had a de-escalation strategy with a contingency plan, and it worked well,” said police spokesman Tilo Scholz.

“We are more than satisfied,” Lea Voigt, a spokeswoman for the organisational group Block G8, told reporters in Rostock. “We have managed to block the summit the entire time.”

Though many protesters made it to the fence, none were known to have made it through.

Greenpeace breached the secure zone at sea with 11 boats in a spectacular protest before being intercepted.