Protesters march against covid restrictions in northwestern Europe
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through several cities in northwestern Europe on Saturday (4) against restrictions to contain the coronavirus, imposed amid a spike in infections.
Last month, Austria became the first country in Western Europe to resume a 20-day lockdown, and said it would make vaccination mandatory from February.
Some of the more than 40,000 protesters in Vienna carried signs saying: “I will decide for myself”, “Make Austria Big Again” and “New Elections” - a nod to the political turmoil that has generated three chancellors in two months.
In the city of Utrecht, central Netherlands, thousands of people demonstrated against the restrictions that began last weekend.
In 's financial capital, Frankfurt, police dispersed a protest by hundreds of people for not wearing masks or maintaining social distance, using truncheons and pepper spray , after officers were attacked by a group of protesters.
In Berlin, where a new government is due to take office in a few days, small groups gathered to protest after a larger demonstration was banned.
* Reporting by Eva Plevier, Hilde Verweij, Francois Murphy, Lisi Niesner, Emma Thomasson and Kevin Liffey
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
