(ANSA) - VIENNA, 31 JAN - About 5 thousand people, including Nazis, took to the streets today in Vienna to protest against anti-Covid restrictions, challenging the prohibition of the Austrian authorities.
Protesters took up the appeal of the far-right party FPOE, which called the closures "scandalous".
Police made several stops because the crowd refused to disperse, instead attempting to head to parliament and blocking traffic.
In recent days, the former Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl, a member of the FPOE, had made an appeal to take to the streets this Sunday against the curfew and the third lockdown decided by the government of Sebastian Kurz.
But the demonstration was banned because of the "damage to public order" that it probably would have caused.
The FPOE presented a second request for authorization to the march to "defend democracy, freedom and fundamental rights", but once again the police rejected it, speaking of the risks of an "increased transmissibility of the new variants" of the virus.
In Austria, the epidemic is still worrying.
Despite the introduction of a new confinement and curfew, 1,190 new infections have been registered today (out of 8.9 million inhabitants).
According to a survey published by the weekly Profil, 64% of Austrians are calling for the closure of the plant sciences.
Schools, gyms, hotels, restaurants, non-essential shops and cultural venues are closed.
The Social Democratic opposition voted in favor of reopening the schools on February 8.
(HANDLE).