While the “freedom convoy” is due to arrive in Paris on Friday February 11, demonstrators opposed to the vaccination obligation have already been mobilized for several days in other cities around the world. In Wellington, New Zealand, thousands of people have surrounded Parliament for four days now. Hungarian motorists and truckers are in solidarity with the Canadians and are preparing to leave, just like in the Netherlands. In Belgium, the authorities want to avoid blockages at all costs.
In New Zealand and Australia, first clashes
New Zealand is arguably the western country that has put in place the most stringent measures to contain the virus. It is also plagued by a movement opposed to compulsory vaccination, which is imposed on certain professional categories, such as teachers, for example. For four days, the Parliament has been surrounded by demonstrators, but beyond the inconvenience caused in the city center, these demonstrations had taken place in peace, until Thursday February 10 when the police carried out more than 120 arrests.
The next day, a hard core of demonstrators was still present in front of the entrance to Parliament, but the climate did not escalate again. They have made it known that they intend to remain there as long as necessary.
In New Zealand, clashes took place in Wellington in front of Parliament between police and opponents of health measures, installed in the capital as a sign of protest. pic.twitter.com/DSgxh7cfRi
— TV5MONDE Info (@TV5MONDEINFO) February 10, 2022
In Canberra, the Australian capital, protests have been taking place for 15 days, mBut we expect even more people on Saturday February 12 for this day that the demonstrators have baptized “Superhero Saturday”. And on social networks, the latter suggest that they could attack a vaccinodrome which is located in the capital.
In recent days, roads have been blocked by demonstrators, they have also attacked certain traders, who have been accused of applying health measures. Some politicians have also received threats.
The situation could turn sour on Sunday because the demonstrators will have to leave the exhibition center they occupy. If they do not leave on their own, the authorities will send the police to dislodge them.
Hungarians in solidarity with Canadians
In Hungary, no health pass or vaccination obligation, except for caregivers and teachers. Companies can impose vaccination on their staff, but the majority do not. In short, sanitary measures are much less strict than in Canada. And yet a “Hungarian freedom convoy” has emerged on social networks, with the slogan “We stand in solidarity with Canadian truck drivers”. The group has 30,000 members and organized a week of action which started on Monday 7 February. They were a hundred drivers – a majority of motorists, and some truckers – to demonstrate on the highway. But they wisely parked on a slip road without blocking the tracks. A fairly peaceful “convoy”, especially since the police can impose huge fines. On Saturday, the organizers call for a festive gathering near Budapest, before the departure of the convoy, scheduled for Sunday.
Among the demonstrators, small entrepreneurs or unskilled workers, anti-vaccines, but not only. What they want is a return to citizen democracy. “We live in a country where censorship, tapping and searches have reached an unprecedented level”, they say in their manifesto. A movement that may appear to be anti-Viktor Orban, especially since elections are scheduled soon in Hungary. But it is not organized, the demonstrators, who are numerous on the internet but much less in the street, express a diffuse malaise common to many Hungarians, who feel asphyxiated by a regime which is increasingly moving away of democracy.
The Belgian authorities want to avoid unrest
The ultimate goal of the convoys is a rally in Brussels with an appointment scheduled for Monday, February 14. The initial objective was to converge there on February 7, but the date was postponed by a week in the hope of allowing convoys from all over Europe to gather there.
>> France, Belgium, the Netherlands… After Canada, how the “freedom convoy” against health measures is spreading
The objective of the Belgian authorities is to prevent vehicles from entering the city and causing disturbances similar to those in Canada or New Zealand. Since Thursday, February 10, there have been municipal decrees to prohibit the possible entry of heavy goods vehicles into Brussels and the intention is to divert the convoy to the north of the capital, towards the car parks of the Heysel exhibition center. A measure for convoys that have managed to reach the Belgian capital, because the federal government provides border controls. SWithout having to look very far, Belgium’s neighbors are marked by a certain mobilization. In Luxembourg, the extent of the mobilization remains unknown, but calls to converge on Brussels have been issued in the Grand Duchy. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, there is already a rise in power of the “freedom convoy” because the rallies have already begun. There was a first convoy in Friesland, in the north of the country and rallies are also planned for Saturday.
The federal police have announced road checks throughout the country and other cities are preparing, such as Ghent, which has also planned to ban heavy goods vehicles. The movement of yellow vests had mobilized a lot in Belgium, a few days ahead of France elsewhere and the police say they are closely scrutinizing social networks to deal with Belgian participation in the “convoy for freedom”.