VIENNA—Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Vienna on Saturday after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown beginning Monday amid a rise in 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 rioting that erupted in Rotterdam. Protesters rallied against coronavirus restrictions and mandatory COVID-19 passes needed in many European countries to enter restaurants, Christmas markets, or sports events, as well as mandatory vaccinations.
The Austrian lockdown will start Monday and comes as average daily deaths have tripled in recent weeks and hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that their intensive care units are reaching capacity. The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could go up to 20, officials said. People will be able to leave their homes only for specific reasons, including buying groceries, going to the doctor, or exercising.
The government also will make vaccinations mandatory starting Feb. 1. Not quite 66 percent of Austria’s 8.9 million people are fully vaccinated.
Saturday’s march started off at Vienna’s massive Heldenplatz square. Chanting “Resistance!” and blowing whistles, protesters moved down the city’s inner ring road. Many waved Austrian flags and carried signs mocking Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein. Most signs focused on the vaccine mandate: “My Body, My Choice,” read one. “We’re Standing Up for Our Kids!” said another.
About 1,300 police officers were on duty, and 35,000 protesters participated in different marches across the city, police said. Police said several protesters were detained, but didn’t give specific numbers.
Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl, who tested positive for COVID-19 this week and had to stay in isolation, appeared via video, denouncing what he called “totalitarian” measures from a government “that believes it should think and decide for us.”
Schallenberg apologized to all vaccinated people on Friday, saying it wasn’t fair they had to suffer under the renewed lockdown restrictions.
“I’m sorry to take this drastic step,” he said on public broadcaster ORF.
In neighboring Switzerland, 2,000 people protested an upcoming referendum on whether to approve the government’s COVID-19 restrictions law, claiming it was discriminatory, public broadcaster SRF reported.
A day after the Rotterdam rioting, thousands gathered on Amsterdam’s central Dam Square, despite organizers calling off the protest. They walked peacefully through the city’s streets, closely monitored by police.
A few hundred people also marched through the southern Dutch city of Breda to protest lockdown restrictions. One organizer, Joost Eras, told Dutch broadcaster NOS he didn’t expect violence after consulting with police about security measures.
“We certainly don’t support what happened in Rotterdam. We were shocked by it,” he told NOS.
In Italy, 3,000 turned out in the capital’s Circus Maximus, a field where in ancient times Romans staged popular entertainment, to protest against “Green Pass” certificates required at workplaces, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, sports venues, and gyms, as well as for long-distance train, bus, or ferry travel within Italy.
“People like us never give up,” read one banner, in the red, white, and green colors of the Italian flag.
In Northern Ireland, several hundred people opposed to vaccine passports protested outside the city hall in Belfast, where the city’s Christmas market opened Saturday—a market where proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test was required.
The Northern Ireland government voted this week to introduce vaccine certificates for admission to nightclubs, bars, and restaurants starting Dec. 13.
In Croatia, thousands gathered in the capital Zagreb, carrying Croatian flags, nationalist and religious symbols, along with banners against vaccination and what they describe as restrictions of people’s freedoms.
In France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin condemned violent protests in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, one of France’s overseas territories. Darmanin said 29 people had been detained by police overnight. Authorities were sending 200 more police officers to the island and on Tuesday will impose a nightly curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Protesters in Guadeloupe have staged road blockades and set cars on fire. They denounce France’s COVID-19 health pass that is required to access restaurants and cafes, cultural venues, sport arenas, and long-distance travel. They are also protesting France’s mandatory vaccinations for health care workers.
