Friday, 15 June, 2001, 21:21 GMT 22:21 UK

Three shot in EU summit riots

Police had not anticipated the extent of the violence

Demonstrators have been battling heavily outnumbered police in violence in Gothenburg, Sweden as European Union leaders meet for a summit.

Reports say that one demonstrator was shot and wounded by a police officer who was being attacked.

Two other people were admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds, but the circumstances were not clear.

Reuters news agency reported that police were forced to retreat before a crowd of roughly 1,500 protesters, abandoning vehicles near the city's university - less than a mile from the conference centre where the 15 EU leaders are meeting.

Swedish radio warned people to stay away from the city centre due to the violence on a day when more than 600 people were detained during 12 hours of rioting.

The BBC's James Rogers in Gothenburg said police had anticipated violence during the two-day EU summit, but not to this extent.

Event moved

The severity of the demonstrations prompted police to relocate a planned dinner for EU leaders.

Police decided the dinner, originally to be held at the elegant Tragar'n restaurant in the city's Botanical Gardens, would instead be held in the conference centre, which is guarded by hundreds of police.

Four delegations attending the summit were also asked to change hotels after police said they could no longer guarantee their safety from protesters, a spokesman for the Finnish delegation told AFP.

On Friday anti-globalisation and anti-EU demonstrators have been fighting pitched battles with police for two days.

Shops were looted and buildings damaged some distance away from the meeting, where EU leaders discussed ways of putting expansion plans back on track after Irish voters rejected them.

Violence

The protesters, many wearing face masks, threw fireworks and stones at police, who fought back with clubs.

Others were seen shattering shop windows, including a McDonald's restaurant and a bank, and burning cafe furniture along streets littered with debris.

Some mounted policemen were thrown off their horses.

Local health authorities said 27 people were admitted to hospital with slight to medium injuries, including at least nine police officers. Many others got first aid on the scene.

Police sealed off a shopping mall in the centre of town after an object suspected to be a bomb was found.

Demonstrators tried repeatedly to get close to the conference hall where the 15 EU leaders are meeting, and at one stage were reported to be less than a mile away.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said he was upset by what he called "this destructive behaviour".

"This is a blatant disregard for democracy and unworthy of a society such as ours," he added.

At least 440 people were arrested on Thursday after clashes during US President George W Bush's meeting with EU leaders and police said more were detained in the second day of riots.

Irish "no"

The Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty has shattered Sweden's hopes that it might be able to end its EU presidency next month by announcing an entry date for new members.

The treaty must be approved by the 15 member-states before the EU can expand to include a dozen applicant countries from eastern Europe.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern asked EU leaders to grant his country "an extended period of reflection" after last week's "no" vote.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that, in my view, the 'no' vote should not be interpreted as a vote against enlargement," Mr Ahern told his EU colleagues at the start of the summit.

All EU members are expected to approve the Nice Treaty before the end of 2002.

Irish fears

Ireland is the only country that requires a referendum to approve the EU treaty, and EU leaders hope that the expansion plan will be ratified in a second vote once Irish concerns about neutrality are allayed.

The EU entered membership negotiations with six countries in 1998 - the so-called wave one, which includes Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia and Cyprus.

Although no date has been set for their entry, these countries could join the European bloc by 2004.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

Answers

Seems to me that if they disbanded the EU the riots would stop. Right?

Maybe I should run for office....

Or just run?

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

Don't think so, Barefoot. Red flags were in evidence all over--these are Marxist-type anarchists. The leaders are the same as those at anti-globalization protests/riots all over. I guess the Swedes thought their liberal politics would save them--wrong! The Europeans are beginning to find out that these protestors are intent only on destruction; they cannot be reasoned with.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

BBC Saturday, 16 June, 2001, 05:26 GMT 06:26 UK

EU summit braced for more riots

More than 500 people have been arrested

Police in Gothenburg are preparing for more violent demonstrations by anti-capitalist protesters outside the EU summit.

Three demonstrators were shot and injured, one critically, by police during disturbances on Friday.

Police fired live rounds

Up to 25,000 anti-capitalist and anti-EU protesters are expected to march on Saturday as EU leaders continue their work in a conference centre surrounded by steel fencing and riot police.

Friday's violence appeared to go out of control when a police officer used live ammunition against the demonstrators.

Officials said live rounds were used because rubber-coated bullets and teargas were not available, and that the officer opened fire in self-defence.

Swedish Justice Minister Thomas Bodstrom, said: "This is not the problem what kind of weapon was used by the police.

"The problem is there are 400 or 500 people who are here just to start fighting.

"I hope Saturday's demonstrations will be peaceful."

Police protect a fallen colleague

Shops looted

Anti-globalisation, anti-EU and anti-US demonstrators have been fighting pitched battles with heavily outnumbered police for two days.

Between 500 and 600 people have been arrested and, more than 50 charged by public prosecutors.

On Friday shops were looted and buildings damaged some distance away from the meeting of EU leaders.

The protesters, many wearing facemasks, threw fireworks and stones at police, who fought back with clubs.

Others were seen shattering shop windows, including a McDonald's restaurant and a bank, and burning cafe furniture along streets littered with debris. Some mounted policemen were thrown off their horses.

Twelve police officers were hurt in the street battles, which raged for several hours.

"Our purpose is to get into the meeting and offer an alternative vision to their neo-liberal, elitist, undemocratic union," said protester Sara Olvegaard, who said she represented the non-violence network of Gothenburg.

"We don't feel that we are represented by those people in there. They represent only the interests of multinational corporations.

"The fact that they have to use violence to keep us out makes us wonder what is going on in there that they don't want people to see."

'Destructive behaviour'

Demonstrators tried repeatedly to get close to the conference hall where the 15 EU leaders are meeting.

A planned dinner for the leaders had to be relocated for security reasons and four delegations attending the summit were also asked to change hotels after police said they could no longer guarantee their safety.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said he was upset by what he called "this destructive behaviour".

"This is a blatant disregard for democracy and unworthy of a society such as ours," he added.

[Followed by rehash of earlier news.]

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

[OG Note: Perhaps now Europeans--or at least, the Swedes--won't be so damn quick to criticize this country for its "violent culture."]

BBC Friday, 15 June, 2001, 17:52 GMT 18:52 UK

Gothenburgers count the cost

Sweden's second city has never seen anything like it

By BBC News Online's Lars Bevanger in Gothenburg

It wasn't supposed to happen. Yet by Friday afternoon, Gothenburgers were assessing the damage done to their town after violent clashes between hundreds of protesters and police.

The pavements down the city's main shopping street, Avenyn, were littered with broken glass.

Click here to see map of the region

Elsewhere stretches of pavement were simply missing, as protesters had helped themselves to cobblestones to use as missiles against mounted police.

Further along lay a smouldering pile of chairs and tables from an outdoor café. Rioters had thrown them together before setting fire to them.

Unrecognisable

People were walking around with baffled expressions, while others stood in little groups talking about what they had just witnessed.

Anne-Mari, a woman in her fifties, had been out shopping when the trouble started.

"I had to run to avoid the stones. It is terrible what has happened here.

"I am not for the EU, but I am definitely not for violence," she says, looking up at the shattered façade of a fast food restaurant.

"I don't recognise Gothenburg."

Her friend Ingrid is equally taken aback.

"I never would have thought this could happen here."

Unprecedented

Neither, it seems, did the main organisers of the protests nor the police. Both sides had been speaking highly of the good dialogue between them ahead of the summit.

Sweden, let alone Gothenburg, has never seen anything like this. Many of the police here have been drafted in from small towns all around the country.

Most of them have no experience in dealing with situations like this.

Lars Unoviking, a police inspector from the south-eastern city of Norkoping, says even after 30 years as a police officer he has never witnessed anything on this scale.

"This is sad for Gothenburg, sad for Sweden," he says.

Orjan Bergstern is one of the main organisers of demonstrations during the EU summit. He calls what has happened a disaster.

"It's just the kind of activities we were trying to avoid."

The Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson said: "This is a blatant disregard for democracy and unworthy of a society such as ours."

Public protest has deep roots and proud traditions in Sweden. Swedish grassroots are used to being consulted by those in power.

The people of Gothenburg and Sweden might feel broken windows and uprooted pavements do not serve to further this dialogue.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001