VIENNA, Austria.- This Sunday, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior reported that yesterday, Saturday, at least three police officers were injured and 43 other people were arrested during a far-right demonstration and a counter-demonstration by anti-fascist groups in Vienna.
The protest, organised yesterday afternoon by the far-right youth group Identitarian Movement (Identity movement), under the slogan ‘Remigration‘, brought together some 350 German neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist activists, according to local media.
According to the Austrian government, around 800 officers from various regions of Austria were deployed to the capital, where they carried out more than 270 identity checks and filed several criminal and administrative complaints.
“Criminal offences, especially those committed during demonstrations, are systematically pursued by the police, regardless of whether they are committed by left-wing, right-wing extremists or other enemies of democracy,” the Interior Minister stressed. Gerhard Karnermember of the conservative ÖVP party.
The Austrian was also present among the participants Herbert Fritz84, co-founder of Austria’s National Democratic Party, which was banned in 1988 for violating the country’s anti-Nazi laws.
Counter-demonstrations were organised at the same time, leading to violent clashes, with the throwing of stones, bottles, firecrackers and various material damages, including to shops.
Police, who considered the operation a success, responded with pepper spray to disperse the protesters.
The Greens and the social democratic SPÖ party had previously criticised the rally, pointing to links between the organisers and the ultra-nationalist Liberal Party of Austria (FPÖ).
They also warned of the danger of nationalist ideologies becoming acceptable to a government led by the FPÖ, which could emerge from the legislative elections at the end of September.
In the European elections last June, the pro-Russian and Eurocritical FPÖ party won in Austria with 25.5% of the vote, less than one percentage point ahead of the ruling ÖVP party, shaking up the political scene in the country.
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2024-08-02 08:02:57
