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By Shweta Desai and Oliver Towfigh Nia
PARIS/BERLIN (AA) – Riots overshadowed a May 1 labor day demonstration in Berlin on Saturday amid fierce clashes between police and radical leftist militants.
Black-clad protesters threw bottles, firecrackers and stones at baton-wielding police who tried to disperse the crowd with pepper spray and water-gun trucks.
Police were repeatedly attacked while trying to pull troublemakers out of the crowd as several protesters were arrested.
Followers of the PKK terror group also rallied during protests in Berlin, carrying rags of the organization and its Syrian branch, YPG.
Some also carried posters of Abdullah Ocalan, the group’s leader who is jailed. Police did not intervene although the group has been banned in Germany and the use of the terror organization’s symbols has been prohibited by the Interior Ministry.
Dumpsters and pallets were set on fire in the Neukoelln district as paramedics were on the scene to treat the wounded.
At least three officers and several protesters were injured.
According to an initial estimate, police said 5,000 people marched in the demonstration that began peacefully but later on turned violent.
Witnesses at the site, however, spoke of one of the largest revolutionary May Day demonstrations in recent years.
Organizers claimed the number of participants was more than 20,000.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Germany to mark the day.
The May 1 demonstrations were organized by the trade unions and radical leftist and anarchist groups, but right-wing groups and critics of coronavirus measures also met for permitted and unauthorized protests across Germany.
Thousands of police were deployed ahead of and after the protests, with sporadic unrest emerging among left- and right-wing demonstrators.
– France
Thousands of people, labor unions and organizations joined the traditional May Day protest march across France — the first amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic — marred by clashes and vandalism in some areas, according to police.
In Paris and Lyon, processions were blocked by "radical elements" who attacked police and vandalized shop windows, commercial establishments and public property.
Paris police said it intervened after "a pre-procession made up of radical elements blocked the progress of the rest of the procession."
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on Twitter that 34 people had been arrested after they came to interrupt the march instead of demonstrating.
In Lyon, 27 officers were injured as a group of 200 protestors used mortars against them. Five were arrested for lighting fire and damaging street furniture in the city hub of Place Bellecour, according to authorities.
Elsewhere, more than 300 rallies, events and organized by the national labor and trade unions — General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Labor Force (FO), Unitary Trade Union Federation (FSU) and Solidarity, were relatively peaceful and the atmosphere festive. Even with COVID-19 restrictions, demonstrators turned out in large numbers to march and demand employment, wage increases, social protection and improvement in public services.
"There is a great anger … against the backdrop of labor reforms such as the unemployment insurance, which has aroused discontent in the world of work, of the culture," said a CGT statement. In October 2019, the Emmanuel Macron administration unveiled tough reforms, making it harder for the unemployed to claim state benefits.
More than 106,000 people demonstrated in France on Saturday, including 17,000 in Paris, the BFMTV network reported.
– Europe
Similar rallies were held across Europe, with curtailments due to the pandemic.
In Madrid, ministers joined demonstrators to march from the town hall to Puerta del Sol square. In Berlin, thousands took to a bike to protest capitalism.
A musical concert with limited spectators was held in Rome with more than 40 musicians — the first such event after lockdown measures were lifted last month, according to a report in the La Republica newspaper.
