Protesters clash with police ahead of summit
GERMAN police used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters in Hamburg after being attacked with bottles and stones by some marchers protesting the G20 summit.
Police said they repeatedly asked a group of anti-capitalist demonstrators to remove their masks yesterday evening, to no avail.
They then decided to separate the group from the rest of the several thousand-strong demonstration.
Black-hooded protesters attacked a police vehicle with bottles and bricks, breaking its window.
The violence broke out near the start of the demonstration at a riverside plaza used for Hamburg’s weekly fish market.
More than 100,000 protesters are expected in Hamburg for the summit, which takes place today and tomorrow.
Demonstrators have promised massive protests against US President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, three of the more controversial leaders of the G20 nations.
A large banner hanging from a building overlooking the congress centre where the leaders will meet said: “G20 Members: Respect the rule of law!”
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma were among the first to arrive yesterday, while Mr Trump landed in the late afternoon, flying in from a stop in Poland.
More than 100,000 protesters are expected in the city, with 8,000 considered part of Europe’s violent leftwing scene, according to police.
For the anti-globalisation protest last night, organisers said they were “calling on the world to make Hamburg a focal point of the resistance against the old and new capitalist authorities”.
Many other groups are calling for peaceful protests, and are pushing the G20 leaders for action on climate change, to address economic disparities in the world and a wide array of other issues.
Some are even calling for the dissolution of the G20 itself so the United Nations becomes the platform for such discussions.
After Mr Trump’s recent decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, the fight against global warming promises to feature prominently in discussions at the summit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected calls from some to push for a strong “G19” statement – without the US – on climate change, and Chinese official Zhu Guangyao told reporters Beijing also opposes the move.
On trade, Mr Putin wrote in a guest article for Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper yesterday that “politically motivated” sanctions were being used as a form of protectionism.
“Limits by one-sided, politically motivated sanctions on investment, trade and particularly technology transfer are becoming its hidden form,” the Russian president wrote.
The European Union and US have imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, and Mr Putin wrote that such sanctions lead nowhere. He said they “contradict the G20 principles” of working together in the interests of all countries.