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Tens of thousands protest Austria compulsory vaccination

Tens of thousands of Austrians rallied this weekend to protest against the government's introduction of compulsory vaccination -- the first EU country to do so -- as the chancellor insisted on Sunday that the move would represent "a minor interference" compared to the alternatives.

Published: 28 November 2021 17:39 CET
Demonstrators hold a banner which reads
Demonstrators hold a banner which reads "Control the borders - not your people" during a rally held by Austria's far-right Freedom Party FPOe against the measures taken to curb the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, at Maria Theresien Platz square in Vienna, Austria on November 20, 2021.(Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

One of the largest demonstrations was held in the southern city of Graz, where police said late Saturday that around 25,000 people had gathered in a rally that remained mostly peaceful.

But police said that three men in their early 20s were being investigated for allegedly making Nazi salutes and that there were dozens of infractions against virus-related rules on mask-wearing.

In an interview with the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said that the government had “sadly” been forced to turn to compulsory vaccination to bolster the current rate of full vaccination — which currently stands at just under 67 percent and is one of the lowest in Western Europe.

READ ALSO: Is the lockdown boosting Austria’s sluggish vaccination rate?

With the current rate “we will never get out of the vicious circle of new waves and new debates on lockdowns,” he said.

“Every lockdown is a heavy interference in fundamental rights. Compared to that, compulsory vaccination is a minor interference,” he said.

READ ALSO: ‘Impfpflicht’: How will Austria’s mandatory vaccination law work in practice?

Faced with rapidly rising case numbers, the government introduced a partial lockdown on Monday, although schools have remained open.

The below chart from Our World In Data shows the situation in Austria compared with some of its neighbours.

Other demonstrations on Saturday took place in the cities of Sankt Poelten and Klagenfurt, attracting around 3,500 and 5,000 people, respectively.

Eleven arrests were made in Sankt Poelten, most of them for “aggressive behaviour”. One police officer was injured.

The demonstration was organised by the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), whose leader Herbert Kickl has been vocal in opposing anti-virus measures and in pushing unproven treatments for the virus.

The protest in Klagenfurt was addressed by the local head of the FPOe.

Also on Sunday, the finance ministry said that seizures of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin by customs officials had “exploded” in recent months.

Between September and mid-November, 15,844 tablets had been seized, the ministry said.

Ivermectin is one of several drugs which been pushed on social media as treatments for Covid-19, despite proving ineffective in multiple studies and trials and being potentially dangerous if administered incorrectly.

READ ALSO: Austria bans flights from southern Africa over new Covid-19 variant
FOR MEMBERS: Is it possible to travel to Austria during the new Covid lockdown?

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ENVIRONMENT

Climate protesters under fire in France, Germany, France and UK: UN expert

Environmental activists are increasingly facing hostility across Europe, a UN expert said, warning that the very right to protest was "at risk" in countries usually considered beacons of democracy.

Published: 16 March 2024 18:47 CET
Climate protesters under fire in France, Germany, France and UK: UN expert

Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, told AFP in an interview this week that he was deeply troubled by the hardening tone against climate activists in countries including France, Austria, Germany and Britain.

Government ministers have been throwing about terms like “eco terrorists” and “Green Talibans” to describe non-violent activists, he claimed, also blaming some media reporting for contributing to an increasingly hostile
public attitude.

“It creates a sort of chilling effect,” warned Forst, an independent expert appointed under the UN’s Aarhus Convention — a legally-binding text that provides for justice in environmental matters.

“Currently, the right to protest is at risk in Europe.”

Forst said he had recently visited several European countries after receiving complaints that activists faced treatment that allegedly violated the convention and international human rights law.

Following a visit to Britain, he publicly voiced alarm at the “toxic discourse” and “increasingly severe crackdown” on environmental defenders.

 ‘Regressive laws’ 

Forst charged that “regressive laws” in Britain were being used to slap climate activists with harsh penalties, with one activist sent to prison for six months for a 30-minute slow march disrupting traffic.

Another activist had been sentenced to 27 months behind bars in the UK, he said.

He also decried harsh sentences in other countries, including Germany.

Forst travelled to France last month following complaints about a crackdown on a drawn-out anti-motorway protest near the southwestern city of Toulouse.

Activists, called “squirrels”, who have been squatting in trees destined to be chopped down to make way for the A69 motorway, have accused law enforcement of denying them access to food and water and using floodlights to deprive them of sleep.

Forst said he had been blocked from bringing food to the activists, and was “shocked” by what he found.

“Obviously, deprivation of food, of drinking water, of sleep is clearly against international law,” said Forst, a French national.

They are “considered acts of torture in international texts”, he added. 

Dangerous

Forst said that European media coverage often focuses exclusively on the drama around demonstrations and not on the climate crisis prompting the protests.

The world is in a very “dangerous time”, he said, but the general public often do not understand why young people are “blocking access to airports, or gluing their hands on the floor”.

As a result, states have felt justified in developing new policies and laws, paving the way for police crackdowns, and increasingly harsh sentences.

In Britain, he said that some judges were even barring environmental defenders from using the word “climate” to explain their motivation to the jury.

Forst said that he was investigating whether big companies, especially in the oil and energy sector, might be lobbying to increase the pressure on climate activists.

“The most dangerous” companies were even “using security forces, connections with the mafia… to target and sometimes to kill defenders,” he said.

Forst said he was currently organising consultations in Latin America and Africa with environmental activists there who are facing attacks by companies.

He is also investigating whether companies based in Europe are, through local subsidiaries, contributing to attacks on activists.

And the expert blasted European countries for “a double standard” by supporting environmental defenders in other parts of the world but “not protecting their defenders inside Europe”.

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