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Against the obligation to vaccinate: Corona demos from East to West

At the beginning of February, the Covid-19 vaccination requirement will come into force. This was decided by the National Council at its meeting last Thursday. The opponents of the measure do not want to accept this. This Saturday, several thousand people took to the streets across Austria to demonstrate against the government’s new plans to combat the pandemic.

5,000 participants in Bregenz

In the very west of the country, for example, around 5,000 people took part in a demonstration in Bregenz, as reported by ORF Vorarlberg. The opponents of the measures gathered in front of the Festspielhaus and moved from there through the city center of Bregenz.

According to the police, the demo entitled “Peace-Freedom-Self-determination” was peaceful. The focus here was also on the compulsory vaccination decided on Thursday. There were longer traffic delays.

Counter-demonstration in Graz

There was also an anti-corona protest in Graz on Saturday. “Together for dignity, truth and humanity, health without compulsory vaccination must be the goal” several thousand participants in the city center campaigned on Saturday afternoon and evening, as the police reported. The demonstrators moved from the main train station to Karmeliterplatz, where a rally took place.

According to the executive, the event was “largely peaceful”. Due to Covid measure violations, there would still have been some official acts and arrests. A left-wing alliance called for a counter-demo under the motto “Solidarity through the crisis” from 5 p.m. on Mariahilferplatz. The police officers were also on duty there in order to keep the mood between the differently minded participants calm.

Arrest after attack on police officers in Gleisdorf

A demonstration in Gleisdorf, Styria, was less peaceful on Friday evening. According to the police, several hundred participants also demonstrated against compulsory vaccination there between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. More than 40 administrative violations, mostly related to Covid, were reported, as the police reported.

In addition, three people have been arrested. A 43-year-old is said to have attacked a police officer and slightly injured him. While the officers were arresting the man, an unknown person threw a pyrotechnic object at the officers. “No one was injured. When the man fled, a stab knife fell out of his jacket. This was secured. The suspect has not yet been investigated,” the police said.

According to the executive, two other people, a 37-year-old and a 57-year-old, were uncooperative and passively resisted during a Covid control. However, after the identity was verified, the arrest was lifted.

Roadblocks in Vienna

A total of eight rallies related to Corona were registered in downtown Vienna on Saturday. “Several thousand participants are registered, but we don’t expect a large turnout,” police spokesman Markus Dittrich told KURIER beforehand.

Due to a large corona demo, the Ring and Franz-Josefs-Kai were expected to be closed between 3 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

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