Credit: Jazmin Campbell
The Grand Ducal Police have reported that around 2,000 people gathered in Luxembourg City on Saturday afternoon to protest against tightened COVID-19 restrictions in the Grand Duchy.
According to the police, the two protests (one starting in Glacis car park and the other in the Kinnekswiss municipal park) began peacefully. Around 15:30, demonstrators set off for the Christmas Market in Place de la Constitution, where the protests turned violent.
Some protestors disregarded the CovidCheck access rules in place, climbing on and knocking over barriers to get into the Christmas market. There were clashes between protestors and police officers. After consultation with the Mayor of Luxembourg City, Lydie Polfer, it was decided to close the markets temporarily since the CovidCheck regulations could no longer be respected.
After police closed the markets in the capital, the crowd reportedly went in different directions and caused unrest for businesses as well as disruption to traffic.
Protestors then targeted the Chamber of Deputies, the entrances of which were blocked by the police for security reasons. Another group headed towards Luxembourg-Gare. The Christmas market in Place de Paris had to be temporarily closed for safety reasons, as well. Some of the protestors went on to throw eggs at Prime Minister Xavier Bettel's house in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie.
Shortly afterwards, the protestors headed back in the direction of Kinnekswiss park.
Police officers recorded criminal offences.
Reactions
On Sunday morning, Luxembourg's Minister for Internal Security, Henri Kox, and head of police operations Thierry Fehr held a press conference to address the unrest. Minister Kox condemned this violence, saying: "A boundary was overstepped that we cannot tolerate". He added that an investigation is ongoing.
Moreover, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel took to social media to express his opinion on the unrest. He said: "We live in a free, democratic country, where everyone may say their opinion. But I cannot and will not accept what happened yesterday in the city".
Several other politicians condemned the violent protest, including Deputy Prime Minister François Bausch, who expressed support for freedom of opinion and freedom to protest, but denounced "agression, vandalism and threats". The CSV opposition party, Pirate Party MP Sven Clement, LSAP secretary general Tom Jungen and fellow LSAP member Mars Di Bartolomeo were also among those to publicly condemn Saturday's violence.
