ANKARA
Germany’s interior minister called Thursday to an end to violence following the incidents linked to protests organized by the “Blockupy movement” in Frankfurt.
In a press conference, Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said, “The attempt to legitimize what happened and comparing it with Maidan (2014 Ukranian protests that led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych) saying it comes from anger is really awful.”
Hundreds of protesters were arrested and scores of police officers injured after clashes broke out when 20,000 demonstrators rallied in Frankfurt against EU austerity measures and the inauguration of the new €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) European Central Bank headquarters on Wednesday.
De Maiziere also stated that the groups that organize the rallies were not innocent and everybody should stay away from violence.
Concerning claims that police had incited the violence, Maiziere said: “This is nonsense. What interest can police have by inciting violence?”
Meanwhile, anti-austerity movement Blockupy spokesman Hendrik Wester rejected to take responsibility for the violence and said: “Our intention was not to escalate the violence.”
Stating that protestors’ legitimate demands had not been recognized for years, Wester said: “There is a huge anger towards the policies of the German government and the European Central Bank all over Europe.”
“Resistance is continuing,” said Wester, adding that 200 people had been injured during clashes.
Head of The Left party Katja Kipping also blamed the police for the violence.
Police said around 400 protesters were arrested during the demonstrations organized by the pan-European Blockupy movement, an alliance of more than 90 anti-globalization and anti-racist political parties, which strongly oppose the EU’s economic policies and austerity measures imposed on countries facing financial crisis.
Some protesters set up barricades on the streets of the German city while others set fire to police cars during the clashes. Frankfurt police said that at least 90 officers were injured during the protests.
Blockupy organizers argue that policies overseen by the European Central Bank, or ECB, have led to irresponsible financiers being bailed out at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The movement includes activist groups such as Attac, which advocates the taxing of financial transactions, Verdi, Germany's second-biggest union which has more than 2 million members, and German political party Die Linke (The Left), which currently holds more than 10 percent of the country's parliamentary seats.
Greek leftist party Syriza, which was elected in January, is also a member of the movement which argues ECB policies are pushing for balanced budgets at the expense of poor people and the middle classes across Europe.
Blockupy highlights the harsh economic measures imposed on heavily indebted Greece since 2010 by the "troika," which is comprised of the ECB, European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, as an example of unacceptable and destructive economic practices.
