Once again, FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl stirred the drum for tomorrow’s Corona demos in Vienna on social media on Friday. Again, thousands of Austrians are expected in the federal capital, who want to take to the streets, especially against the mandatory vaccination planned from February. This also brings the security authorities to their limits again, because during the last demo there were isolated problems with riots and attacks on officials. The shiver temperatures in the minus range announced for tomorrow are also likely to cause additional problems for the officials, because they sometimes have to stay outdoors for hours.
The various organizers had already called in advance that the demo should be peaceful. Meanwhile, a debate has flared up in the relevant Telegram groups on whether members of the black bloc, which consists, among other things, of masked members of the Identitarian Movement, should again be tolerated at the head of the demo. A well-known representative of the vaccination skeptic scene, the entrepreneur Alexander Ehrlich, had recently announced that he would leave the movement if there was no clearer demarcation from the far right. “Is that how you want to be perceived?” He asked on Telegram in the room. He fears that ordinary citizens could be frightened.
A total of 32 gatherings were registered for Saturday at the Vienna State Police Department, seven of which were prohibited, however, and one rejected due to a formal error. Some of the meetings taking place will be against the COVID measures. The “mega-Demo”With party leader Herbert Kickl has her starting point at noon at Heldenplatz. Kickl as well as other organizers expect several thousand participants.
In order to ensure a safe process and compliance with the applicable Covid regulations, the Vienna police, supported by police from other federal states, will be on duty with around 1,400 officers, according to a broadcast on Friday. In addition to staff for the security service and property protection, employees of the constitutional protection and the state criminal investigation office will also be on duty, it was also announced.
The Vienna police will again provide two contact officers for media representatives on Saturday. They should be contacted especially in cases of disruptive actions against journalistic work or if they are aware of criminal acts. Recently, there had been more and more attacks during demonstrations by opponents of the measures. Officials were injured and demonstrators – often from right-wing extremist circles – arrested.
Before the demonstration, Kickl appealed to the participants to behave peacefully. It is crucial that protest measures take place in an orderly manner and peacefully. The FPÖ boss announced that he would appear with representatives of different spectra. “We will shame the government fanatics and jailers with peaceful protest.”
