FRANKFURT, Germany
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested and scores of police officers injured after clashes broke out when 20,000 demonstrators rallied in Frankfurt against EU austerity measures and the inauguration of the new €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) European Central Bank headquarters on Wednesday.
Police said around 400 protesters were arrested during the demonstrations organized by the pan-European Blockupy movement, an alliance of more than 90 anti-globalization and anti-racist political parties, which strongly oppose the EU’s economic policies and austerity measures imposed on countries facing financial crisis.
Some protesters set up barricades on the streets of the German city while others set fire to police cars during the clashes. Frankfurt police said that at least 90 officers were injured during the protests.
A small group of activists climbed on the roof of the ECB headquarters despite a heavy police presence around the new building and unfurled a banner reading, "Capitalism kills."
Frankfurt police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters during the early hours of the protest.
- 'Civil war'
Blockupy spokesman Hendrik Wester claimed police provoked protesters through their use of heavy security measures designed for a "civil war scenario."
Wester told German press agency DPA, "What is happening is not what Blockupy had planned for today. One has to see that, what the police have been doing is apparently a civil war scenario... many people have been attacked (by police) as a method of provocation."
- 20,000-strong rally
Despite heavy clashes in the morning, tensions calmed down later in the day.
Thousands of demonstrators peacefully rallied in the afternoon from the city hall to Opera Square, protesting the EU’s finance policies and austerity measures.
They carried placards and banners saying “Je suis Greece. No to the power of Troika,” “The name of the crisis is Capitalism” and “Our time to act has come!"
Organizers said more than 20,000 protesters marched along the streets of Frankfurt, while the police estimated their number as 17,000.
“We've seen a huge, determined but peaceful demonstration with more than 20,000 participants. Thanks to all of you who have made this demonstration possible. We've sent a strong statement against austerity,” organizers posted on the official Facebook page of the movement.
- 'Destructive practices'
Blockupy organizers argue that policies overseen by the ECB have led to irresponsible financiers being bailed out at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The movement includes activist groups such as Attac, which advocates the taxing of financial transactions, Verdi, Germany's second-biggest union which has more than two million members, and German political party Die Linke (The Left), which currently holds more than 10 percent of the country's parliamentary seats.
Greek leftist party Syriza, which was elected in January, is also a member of the movement which argues ECB policies are pushing for balanced budgets at the expense of poor people and the middle classes across Europe.
Blockupy highlights the harsh economic measures imposed on heavily indebted Greece since 2010 by the "troika," which is comprised of the ECB, European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, as an example of unacceptable and destructive economic practices.
