AUSTRIA - Braced for violent protests

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BBC Sunday, 1 July, 2001, 09:09 GMT 10:09 UK

Salzburg braced for violent protests

Security has been tightened in the Austrian city of Salzburg as police brace for potentially violent demonstrations against a gathering of top European business and political leaders.

Barricades have been put up around the city's old town, ahead of the start of the three-day European Economic summit organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Keen to avoid the kind of violence that marred last month's European Union summit in Sweden, Austria has imposed emergency border controls and drafted in police reinforcements.

Anti-globalisation activists have made the Geneva-based WEF one of their top targets.

Some 5,000 demonstrators are expected to attend a demonstration later on Sunday.

Police believe that some are planning to smash the summit.

Local media reports estimate that an additional 5,000 police have been sent in from around the country.

Austria, which normally allows passport-free travel to citizens of any EU country participating in the Schengen agreement, temporarily reintroduced controls last week as a way of filtering out potential troublemakers.

Security inspections

Dozens of armed officers awaited arriving trains, and what few vehicles that were allowed to enter to old town were inspected.

Police also checked the documents of many people entering the old town.

Some 660 top business and political leaders, including some 15 heads of state and government and 40 cabinet ministers are expected to attend the meeting, which runs until Tuesday.

For the first time, this year's gathering has been billed as an all-European summit, but it retains the emphasis on central and eastern Europe of previous years, with the majority of officials coming from the region.

Seeking dialogue

With Macedonia's President Boris Trajkovski, Yugoslavia's Vojislav Kostunica and Nato chief George Robertson due to attend, the continuing conflict in the Balkans will be high on the agenda of the summit.

Participants also plan to discuss the perceived slowdown in the EU enlargement process and a lack of popular support, reflected by the Irish referendum vote earlier last month against the Nice treaty.

The organisers of the summit say they will not be deterred by the protesters, and are instead calling for dialogue.

The WEF has invited representatives of the protesters to discuss their grievances with participants at the meeting, in a session to be webcast live.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001

Answers

You think they'd realize that there is something wrong if so many people are upset about the summits.

the border patrols and security measures being re-introduced will become standard fare. Oh wait, they already are...

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001


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