Thousands of protesters surrounded the European Central Bank building in Frankfurt today, clashing with riot police as Mario Draghi, the bank’s president, marked the inauguration of its new headquarters, reports FT.
Police used water cannons to break up the demonstrators, who were marching as part of the Blockupy movement. Cars were set alight close to the ECB building in the city’s Ostend. Barbed wire was in place around parts of the 46-story skyscraper, which opened late last year at a cost of €1.2bn.
Local police said they had arrested 350 protesters and that 80 officers had been injured by corrosive liquids.
The protests were called in opposition to the austerity measures imposed by the troika of institutions, of which the ECB is a part, on weaker economies in the eurozone, such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
Both Reuters and FT are calling the protest anti-capitalist, but the ECB is a bankster operation having nothing to do with genuine capitalism.
That said, the protesters aren't exactly Rothbardian.
Katja Kipping, leader of the leftwing Die Linke party, who had travelled from Berlin to join the protests, said: “The opening of the new ECB building is not a reason to celebrate. It’s a reason to protest for a social and democratic Europe,” reports FT.
They are not even Hayekian.
Thomas Occupy, a spokesperson for Blockupy, said: “The ECB is the part of the troika, but it should not have the power to play an active role in politics. The ECB should just maintain our currency.”
Those setting fires to the property of others are criminals, not protesters.
ReplyDeleteHow many of the cars parked outside the ecb building were bought by banksters with their freshly printed coupons? Live by the sword....
ReplyDeleteAs usual, the Left's only criticism of power is that it doesn't belong to them.
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