20,000 opponents of anti-coid measures met in Vienna – SME.sk

VIENNA. According to police estimates, about 20,000 people came to Heldenplatz on Saturday to demonstrate against pandemic measures in the Austrian capital Vienna.

The leader of the opposition right-wing Free Party of Austria (FPÖ) Herbert Kickl called for resistance to compulsory vaccination against coronaviruswhich has in Austria come into force in February next year. APA and DPA reported.

Kickl called the planned compulsory vaccination against covid, as well as an indefinite lockdown for the unvaccinated, an “attack on humanity”. “This government is acting sadistically,” the populist politician told his supporters.

On protesters or protesters’ labels were slogans such as “No forced vaccination”, “Hands off our children” or calls for the government to resign. After speeches by politicians from the FPÖ, a protest march began in the center of Vienna.

The government of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Greens plans to introduce compulsory vaccination of the population in order to prevent further waves of the pandemic. Four of the five parliamentary parties support this effort. People who cannot be vaccinated by the set deadline face heavy financial sanctions.

In recent weeks, there have been several demonstrations in Vienna by opponents of the government’s measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 40,000 people protested in the center of Vienna last week.

On Saturday, 32 rallies were reported in the Austrian capital, seven of which were banned by the police. There are about 1400 police officers in the deployment.

During the previous protests, there were also clashes with the police, while several members of the law enforcement force suffered injuries and the detainees were mostly members of the right-wing extremist scene.

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