May Day rallies honour workers, calls for peace
Tens of thousands of people marched Sunday, local time, in cities around Europe for May Day protests to honour workers and shame governments into doing more for their citizens. In France, protesters shouted slogans against newly elected President Emmanuel Macron.
Tensions erupted in Paris, as some demonstrators smashed windows at some banks, a fast-food restaurant and a real estate agency, apparently partially the work of masked men dressed in black. French police moved in, firing rounds of tear gas.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 45 people had been detained so far and eight police officers were injured.
May Day is often a time of high emotions for workers in Europe, and protests in the last two years have been limited by pandemic restrictions.
Turkish police moved in quickly in Istanbul to encircle protesters near the barred-off Taksim Square.
Police detained 164 people for demonstrating without permits and resisting police at the square, Istanbul’s governor’s office said.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey briefly interrupted her May Day speech at a trade union rally where someone threw an egg at her but missed. Giffey, of the Centre-Left Social Democrats, was met by loud protests during her speech.
In Italy, an outdoor megaconcert was being held in Rome after rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides improving conditions for workers, peace was an underlying theme, with many calls for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In Russia, a motorcade organised by the country’s trade unions supportive of the invasion of Ukraine finished its crosscountry trip in Moscow Sunday to mark May Day.
Participating were 70 cars representing all Russian regions from
Vladivostok to Astrakhan, as well as the Russia-backed separatist administrations controlling parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The celebrations in Russia also saw the arrests of anti-war protesters and bystanders across the country, including some who demonstrated in support of the authorities.
Rising inflation and fears of upcoming food shortages from the war in Ukraine were feeding discontent around the world.
Thousands of workers, unemployed people and retirees marched peacefully in North Macedonia’s capital of Skopje, demanding wage increases and respect for workers’ rights. Inflation, running at an annual clip of 8.8% in March, is at a 14-year-high. –