Some protesters broke through to the Reichstag before being dispersed
BERLIN, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) —An attempt to storm Germany’s parliament building during protests against Covid-19 restrictions has been condemned by politicians across the political spectrum.
Demonstrators, many with far-right sympathies, broke through a cordon and ran up the steps of the parliament building before police dispersed them.
The interior minister said there should be “zero tolerance” for such behaviour.
Some 38,000 turned out for the wider, largely peaceful Berlin demonstration.
Demonstrators bearing the flag of former imperial Germany – used by the Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) far-right group – overcame a handful of police to run to the entrance of the Reichstag Building in Berlin.
Police put the number involved at several hundred.
Scuffles broke out and the protesters were then overcome by police using pepper spray. Several people were arrested.
Police rejected criticism of their small deployment, saying they could not “be everywhere all the time”.
“The Reichstag is the domain of our parliament and the symbolic centre of our democracy. It is unbearable that troublemakers and extremists misuse it for their own purposes,” said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
President Frank Walter Steinmeier condemned “an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy”.
“Those angered by our coronavirus measures or who doubt their necessity can do so openly, in protests. But my tolerance ends when protesters hitch themselves to the wagon of enemies of democracy and political rabble-rousers.”
Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the Social Democrats, was one of several to condemn the display of far-right and German imperial symbols.
The Social Democrats have also called for improved security around parliament.
The organiser of the main protest, tech entrepreneur Michael Ballweg, said the demonstrators had “nothing to do” with his movement.
The protest had originally been banned but a court eventually allowed it to go ahead on condition that coronavirus measures such as mask-wearing and social-distancing were adhered to.
In all, 300 people were arrested at various locations, 200 after right-wing agitators threw stones and bottles near the Brandenburg Gate.
Police ordered the dispersal of the protest as the day went on because those taking part were failing to observe coronavirus rules.
Protesters were closely packed in places, and sat together on the ground at one point.
Although Germany has so far not seen the wave of cases affecting some parts of Europe, its infection rate has been growing. New case numbers are reaching highs last seen in April.
The country was one of the most effective in enforcing the framework of response referred to as prevent, detect, contain and treat.
It has been particularly effective in keeping the death rate among the over 70s lower.
It began relaxing physical distancing in early April but continued to track infections, which have seen a rise in August.
On Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 federal states introduced a minimum €50 fine for failing to wear a face mask where ordered. A ban on major public events was also extended until next year.
Germany has recorded 242,000 infections, fewer than the other major European nations. Its figure of 9,297 deaths is considerably lower than the numbers in Russia, the UK, Spain, France and Italy, Johns Hopkins University research shows. — NNN-AGENCIES
