Protests continue to break out in Europe over COVID restrictions that put strict limits on public gatherings and indoor dining. These protesters say the lockdowns have been ineffective in limiting the virus’s spread and damaging to economies and lives across the continent.
As we have continued to detail since the COVID War was launched last year, we noted the infection rate for each country and the age and pre-existing health conditions of those who died from the virus. Essentially, the victims are elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, as the CDC verifies.
But these facts and data are ignored by the mainstream media, intent on selling fear and hysteria to boost their ratings and power-hungry politicians who launched the COVID War to gain Executive Order control.
One of our Top Trends for 2021 was the “Youth Revolution.” Across Europe, many of those taking to the streets are the young who view COVID as an “old person’s disease.” Thus, they believe the rest of society should be permitted to live freely.
The others opposing the lockdowns are business people and workers who are going broke and out of work, along with those who know the facts and want their freedom.
AUSTRIA. Yesterday, some 10,000 demonstrators staged a protest against the government’s COVID-19 curfew restrictions and the locking down of schools, hotels, restaurants, and so-called “non-essential” businesses across the country.
The protests reportedly were encouraged by Austria’s FPÖ party, which has described the ban on protests as “scandalous.”
TREND FORECAST: As we have forecast since the outbreak of the COVID War, anti-vax, anti-lockdown, anti-tax, anti-immigration, anti-establishment political parties will be strong forces as the “Greatest Depression” worsens.
DENMARK. Last week, some of the most violent confrontations between police and protesters occurred in Copenhagen. These protesters have been critical of the country’s newly-imposed curfew.
This past weekend’s protest took place in the city of Aarhus, according to EuroWeeklyNews.com. There is an anti-lockdown movement in the country called “Men in Black” and these protesters chanted, “Freedom for Denmark – we’ve had enough!”
FRANCE. An open-air disco broke out in the French city of Perpignan on Saturday in what was supposed to be a protest over COVID restrictions, according to Euronews.com. The event was attended by about 200 revelers without masks. The report said the protest was intended to be in support of the country’s culture workers, who have been out of work due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it turned into a party.
Yesterday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned restaurant owners that if they opened up and defied the lockdown orders, which have been in place since 30 October, they would be heavily fined and risk losing COVID-related financial aid.
Despite the Minister’s threats, Euronews reported thousands, including several chefs, have backed a French restaurateur who plans to serve protest meals on Monday. Police reported there were 25 restaurants in Paris operating on Thursday and Friday in violation of the lockdown rules.
On the Battle Front
Sky News reported that protesters against these restrictions joined another group of demonstrators in Paris on Saturday to voice their disapproval of the country’s controversial privacy law. The report said police used water cannons to disperse the crowd in the city’s Place de la Republique.
The report said the protest started with about 6,000 people opposed to the country’s security law, and then it attracted others who were intent on airing their grievances about other issues. Many criticized the country’s latest 12-hour curfew from 6 PM to 6 AM.
POLAND PARTIES. Police in Wroclaw and Rybnik were forced to respond Sunday to discos that were being illegally operated, according to The Guardian.
The country implemented a “national quarantine” that spanned from mid-December until last week and decided to extend the restrictions until 14 February.
The paper reported the country has a population of 38 million and has diagnosed a total of 1.5 million cases. The country also recorded 37,000 deaths tied to the virus. First News reported that 1.1 million Poles have been vaccinated.
TOP 10 TREND FOR 2021: “ROARING 2021”: Can’t go to college, can’t get a job, can’t move out of your parent’s house, can’t pay off your debts, can’t buy a new car… can’t, can’t, can’t. The American Dream, or the dream of any youngster around the world, has become a COVID nightmare. As we have forecast, there will be strong anti-lockdown, go-out-and-play, speakeasy, Roaring ‘21 movements launched by 18-to 29-year-olds who view COVID as an “old person’s disease.”
ITALY. The Italian government is said to be “bucking the trend” of European lockdowns, announcing an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Walter Ricciardi, a public health expert who advises health officials in the country, said Rome made its decision based on the fact that it is “extremely difficult to propose stricter measures due to resistance from both politicians and public opinion.”
SPAIN. About 1,000 people protested on the popular Balearic Islands after Madrid announced that bars and restaurants in the country will be closed until at least 15 February, according to The Guardian.
The report said the Islands rely heavily on tourism and have been economically ruined by the virus and subsequent lockdowns. Last week, Spain recorded 94,000 new cases, and the incidence of the virus increased to 885 cases per 100,000 people.
BELGIUM. Police in Brussels clashed with protesters on Sunday. A police spokesman told The Guardian there were at least 200 arrests.
The report said Belgium has had one of the highest death rates and has ordered restaurants and bars in the country to close since October. The total number of those infected in the country of 11.46 million is 710,000. The Brussels Times reported on Sunday there were 1,787 patients hospitalized and 315 in intensive care. On average, about 50 people die each day from the virus.
HUNGARY. Workers from the country’s hospitality sector gathered in Budapest on Sunday to call on the government to consider alternatives to knee-jerk lockdown orders. Similar to restaurants in some parts of Italy, those at the protest called on business owners to disregard coronavirus mandates and open anyway.
“Every tool that we have used until now has been completed so, beginning now, every business should open in the spirit of civil disobedience,” Aron Ecsenyi, the organizer of the protest, told The Guardian.
The country extended the closure of restaurants until at least 1 March, which includes an 8 PM curfew.
Hungary made headlines last week when it became the first European country to approve the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, “The Chinese have known this virus for the longest time, hence probably they know most about it, so I will wait for my turn and when I choose I will want the Chinese vaccine.”
Reuters noted Hungary has about ten million people and recorded 12,374 deaths from the virus.
GREECE. Athen’s government prompted swift backlash from its critics after announcing last week the ban of any COVID-19 protest attended by more than 100 people, the Associated Press reported.
Despite the one-week ban, several thousand protesters took to the streets last Thursday, risking fines up to $3,650 for individuals and $6,000 for organizations.
The country has been under lockdown-type restrictions since early November.
The opposition Syriza party called the government’s ban “arbitrary and undemocratic,” and the ban on protests, attended by more than 100 people, officially ended yesterday.
The country of about 11 million recorded 5,724 deaths. This compares to the state of Michigan, with a population of 9.9 million and 15,536 coronavirus deaths. Michigan’s governor has imposed draconian lockdown orders since the COVID War began.
CANADA IMPOSES QUARANTINE, SUSPENDS FLIGHTS.“In the coming weeks,” Canada is suspending all airline flights to Mexico and the Caribbean and will require incoming foreign visitors to quarantine in a designated hotel at their own expense, prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on 28 January.
In addition to COVID-testing travelers boarding flights, Canada now will require arriving visitors to be tested for the virus and pay the cost of waiting in a hotel room for three days until their test results are known. The cost of the brief quarantine could be as much as $2,000, including the cost of keeping hotel workers safe from contagion, he said.
Those who test positive will be transferred to a government facility; Canadians testing negative will then be quarantined for a longer period at home “under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement,” he added.