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VIENNA (AP) – Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many from right-wing extremist groups, marched through Vienna on Saturday after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown on Monday in order to contain the exploding coronavirus infections.
Demonstrations against virus restrictions also took place in Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands on Saturday, a day after Dutch police opened fire on protesters and seven people were injured in the riots that broke out in Rotterdam. Protesters protested against coronavirus restrictions and mandatory COVID-19 passports, which are required in many European countries to enter restaurants, Christmas markets or sporting events, as well as mandatory vaccinations.
The Austrian lockdown begins Monday and comes as the average daily deaths have tripled in the past few weeks and hospitals in badly affected states have warned that intensive care units are reaching capacity. The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could be as long as 20, officials said. People will only be able to leave their homes for specific reasons, including grocery shopping, visiting the doctor, or exercising.
The government will also make vaccination compulsory from February 1st. Almost 66% of the 8.9 million Austrians are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.
The march on Saturday began on the huge Heldenplatz in Vienna. Singing and whistling “Resistance!” The demonstrators pulled along the inner ring road of the city. Many waved Austrian flags and carried signs that made fun of Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein. Some wore doctor’s coats; others wore aluminum foil hats. Most of the signs focused on the vaccine mandate: “My body, my choice,” read one. “We stand up for our children!” Said another.
Among the demonstrators were members of far-right and far-right parties and groups, including the far-right Freedom Party, the anti-vaccination party MFG and the far-right Identitarians.
About 1,300 police officers were on duty and 35,000 protesters took part in various marches across the city, police said. Police said several demonstrators had been arrested but did not provide any specific numbers. Later on Saturday night, protesters threw bottles and beer cans and fired pyrotechnics at the police, who then used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
The FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, appeared on video and condemned what he called the “totalitarian” measures of a government “that believes that it should think and decide for us”.
Schallenberg apologized to all those vaccinated on Friday, saying it was not fair that they should suffer the renewed lockdown restrictions.
“I’m sorry to take this drastic step,” he said on the public broadcaster ORF.
In neighboring Switzerland, 2,000 people protested against an upcoming referendum on the government’s approval of the COVID-19 Restriction Act, claiming it was discriminatory, the public broadcaster SRF reported.
One day after the riots in Rotterdam, thousands gathered in central Amsterdam’s Dam Square, despite the organizers canceling the protest. They walked peacefully through the streets, closely watched by the police.
“These policies (anti-coronavirus measures) lead to a lot of conflicts between people,” Hugo Gietelink from Amsterdam told The Associated Press. “I think it is very important that the vaccinated and the unvaccinated have to be friends again.”
Several hundred people marched through the South Dutch city of Breda. An organizer, Joost Eras, told the NOS broadcaster that after consulting the police, he did not expect any violence.
“We certainly do not support what happened in Rotterdam. We were shocked about it, ”he said.
In Italy, 3,000 people demonstrated in the capital’s Circus Maximus, a field on which the Romans held popular entertainment in antiquity in order to oppose workplaces, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, sports facilities and fitness studios as well as for long-distance travel by train, bus or ferry.
“People like us never give up,” read a banner in the colors red, white and green of the Italian flag. Almost nobody wore a protective mask.
In Northern Ireland, hundreds of people protested vaccination passports outside Belfast City Hall, where the city’s Christmas market opened on Saturday – a market that required proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
The Northern Irish government this week voted to introduce vaccination certificates for access to nightclubs, bars and restaurants from December 13th.
Some protesters carried signs that were widely criticized as offensive and compared the coronavirus restrictions to the actions of Nazi Germany.
In Croatia, thousands gathered in the capital, Zagreb, wearing flags, nationalist and religious symbols, and banners against vaccinations and what they refer to as restricting people’s freedom.
In France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin condemned violent protests on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, one of the French overseas territories. Darmanin said 29 people were arrested by police overnight. Authorities sent 200 more police officers to the island and will impose a night curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Tuesday
Protesters in Guadeloupe staged road blockades and set cars on fire. They denounce France’s COVID-19 health passport, which is required for access to restaurants and cafes, cultural institutions, sports arenas and long-distance travel. They are also protesting against the vaccinations required in France for health workers.
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Grieshaber reported from Berlin. AP reporters from across Europe contributed to the coverage.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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