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Protests A Sign Of Surging Anger In Europe

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The Washington Post

Published: February 2, 2009

RIGA, Latvia - On a frigid evening in January, more than 10,000 people gathered outside a 13th century cathedral in this Baltic capital to protest the government's handling of Latvia's economic crisis and demand early elections.

The demonstration was one of the largest here since the mass rallies against Soviet rule in the late 1980s and a sign of both the public's frustration and its faith in the political system.

But at the end of the night, as the crowd dispersed, the protest became a riot. Hundreds of angry young people, many drunk and recently unemployed, rampaged through the historic Old Town, smashing shop windows, throwing rocks and eggs at police, even prying cobblestones from the streets to lob at the Parliament building.

Similar outbursts of civil unrest have occurred in recent weeks across the periphery of Europe, where the global financial crisis has buffeted smaller countries with fewer resources to defend their economies. Especially in Eastern Europe, the turmoil reflects surging political discontent and threatens to topple shaky governments that have been the focus of popular resentment over corruption for years.

Europeans have compared the unrest to events of the 1960s and even the 1930s, when the Great Depression fueled political upheaval across the continent and gave rise to isolationism and fascism. But no ideology has tapped the public anger and challenged the basic dominance of free-market economics and democratic politics in these countries. Instead, protesters appear united primarily by dashed economic hopes and hostility against the ruling authorities.

"The politicians never think about the country, about the ordinary people," said Nikolai Tikhomirov, 23, an electronics salesman who participated in the Jan. 13 protest in Riga. "They only think of themselves."

There is particular concern about the relatively young and sometimes dysfunctional democracies that emerged after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, where societies that endured severe hardship in the 1990s, in the hope that capitalism and integration with the West would bring prosperity, now face further pain.

"The political systems in all these countries are fragile," said Jonathan Eyal, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a research group in London. "There's a long history of unfulfilled promises and frustration with the political elites going back to the communist era."

Eyal warned of a revival of ethnic conflict in the region, where most countries have large minority populations, adding that tensions could rise after workers who have lost jobs in Western Europe return home. He noted that extreme nationalist movements have won only limited support in Eastern Europe in recent years.

"People here instinctively know the idea of a strongman who imposes order doesn't work," he said, arguing that the region's history with communist rule, its integration with the European Union and its anxiety about Russia's intentions make a turn toward authoritarianism unlikely. "They have seen the past, and a return to previous populist schemes isn't very persuasive. At the end of the day, they know there's no alternative to the market economy."

The global financial crisis is fueling unrest, particularly in Eastern European nations. Among the countries where protests have erupted are:

LATVIA: A Jan. 13 gathering by 10,000 people to protest the government's handling of the economic crisis became a riot. The Latvian government had pushed through wage and spending cuts but also tax increases to cope with the banking crisis.

LITHUANIA: On Jan. 16, a demonstration by 7,000 protesters turned violent, leading police to respond with rubber bullets. Fifteen people were injured. The protest erupted after the government introduced a package of austerity measures to protect the financial sector.

ICELAND: Police used tear gas Jan. 22 for the first time in half a century to disperse a crowd of 2,000 protesting outside Parliament in Reykjavik. The next day, Prime Minister Geir Haarde agreed to call early elections and said he would step down. The country's coalition government collapsed Jan. 26, and its commerce minister quit Jan. 25. Iceland has been in crisis since the collapse of its banks because of massive debt in September and October, with its currency, the krona, plummeting.

BULGARIA, THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND HUNGARY: Smaller street protests were held in these countries.

SPAIN: A protest in Zaragoza was held to ask local authorities to deal with soaring unemployment as the country's construction and retailing industries suffer.

GREECE: The government is still coming to terms with widespread student protests against education reforms.

ON THE WATCH LIST

The International Monetary Fund says the financial crisis could cause further turmoil, especially in vulnerable nations such as Latvia, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine.

Sources: The Washington Post, The New York Times

EUROPE, ICELAND PROTESTS

The global financial crisis is fueling unrest, particularly in Eastern European nations. Among the countries where protests have erupted are:

LATVIA: A gathering by 10,000 people to protest the government's handling of the economic crisis turned into a riot Jan. 13. The Latvian government had pushed through wage and spending cuts, but also tax hikes, in order to cope with the banking crisis.

LITHUANIA: On Jan. 16, a demonstration by 7,000 protesters turned violent, leading police to respond with rubber bullets. Fifteen people were injured. The protest erupted after the government introduced a package of austerity measures to protect the financial sector.

ICELAND: Police used tear gas on Jan. 22 for the first time in half a century to disperse a crowd of 2,000 protesting outside Parliament in Reykjavik. The next day, Prime Minister Geir Haarde agreed to call early elections and said he would step down. The country's coalition government collapsed Jan. 26, and its commerce minister quit Jan. 25. Iceland has been in crisis since the collapse of its banks because of massive debt in September and October, with its currency, the krona, plummeting.

BULGARIA, THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND HUNGARY: Smaller street protests were held in these countries.

SPAIN: A protest in Zaragoza was held to ask local authorities to deal with soaring unemployment as the country's construction and retailing industries suffer.

GREECE: The government is still coming to terms with widespread student protests against education reforms.

ON THE WATCH LIST

The International Monetary Fund says the financial crisis could cause further turmoil, especially in vulnerable nations such as Latvia, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine.

Sources: The Washington Post, The New York Times

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