At the beginning of the European Gas Conference (EGC) in Vienna, environmental activists blocked the ring road in the immediate vicinity of the conference hotel. Two sit-ins – at Johannesgasse and at Parkring – were set up. The police were on the spot and already announced the dissolution of the undeclared protest. Representatives of the European gas lobby want to network with corporations and politicians at the three-day conference.
“Currently, the parking ring is closed to vehicle traffic from Julius-Raab-Platz. Please give way over a large area. Bicycle facilities are currently not affected,” the police tweeted. There have already been “coordinated attempts to get to the venue”. The conference hotel itself, which is located on the Parkring, had already been sealed off extensively by the police in advance.
The activists, who have also traveled from abroad, want to draw attention to the fact that the conference should take place away from the public. “Gas Is Colonialism” and “Last Winter Of Gas”, for example, might be read on banners. According to a broadcast by the international alliance BlockGas, the protests are calling for “an end to climate-damaging, undemocratic and anti-social decisions behind closed doors”.
