Thousands of people, up to 15,000 according to local media, have participated this Saturday in a rally in Vienna against the anticovid measures decreed by the Government of conservatives and environmentalists. The call was encouraged by the extreme right and prohibited by the authorities.
The protesters, also arriving from outside the Austrian capital on trains and buses, gathered in the central Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square) and Maria-Theresien Platz, where despite the police presence distances and usage were not always respected. mask.
From deniers of the pandemic, to far-rightists and families protesting the economic impact of the restrictions, attendees chanted slogans against the chancellor, the conservative Sebastian Kurz, while blowing whistles and launching slogans against the Government or questioning the existence of the coronavirus.
The ultra-nationalist FPÖ party took advantage of the mobilization to hold an impromptu rally on a small stage at Maria-Theresien Platz.
The demonstration included a counter-march in a park a few hundred meters away, where about 200 people mounted on bicycles gathered, summoned by anti-fascist leftist groups, although the police quickly intervened and disbanded them.
Despite government restrictions, 2,557 new cases of coronavirus and 25 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, which places the cumulative incidence in 7 days per 100,000 inhabitants at 174.7.