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Demonstrators Invade Christmas Market Over Vaccine Passports Needed To Enter

Demonstrators Invade Christmas Market Over Vaccine Passports Needed To Enter

Demonstrators in Luxembourg have stormed a Christmas market in protest of new government efforts to help combat the spread of coronavirus

Demonstrators in Luxembourg have stormed a Christmas market in protest of new government efforts to help combat the spread of coronavirus

Officials have introduced the CovidCheck scheme, which requires people wishing to visit restaurants, bars and Christmas markets to show evidence they have been vaccinated or have recovered from the virus. 

The CovidCheck system is also being used in workplaces, with workers having to show they’ve been vaccinated, have recovered from the virus or have a recent negative test.

The new order will require unvaccinated workers to take a Covid test every day.

In response, around 2,000 people gathered in Luxembourg City to protest against the new rules, RTL Today reports. 

According to the news outlet, the groups were organised on social media, with organisers urging those involved to keep calm and ‘not to allow themselves to be provoked’. 

However, not everyone adhered to this and tensions broke out between police and protestors. 

After meeting at a car park, the demonstrators walked through the streets before eventually arriving at a Christmas market on Place de la Constitution.  

The protestors were reportedly refused service by several hot drinks stands, which lead to them deciding to storm into the market without showing any valid CovidCheck certification. 

Footage shared online shows protestors pulling down a metal fence and forcing their way into the markets while chanting ‘liberté', which translates to 'freedom' in English.

Twitter/@vecumedia

Today, Interior Minister Henri Kox said during a news conference that there had been no injuries reported but there was ‘minor damage’ done to property. 

According to Luxembourg Times, Kox said: "I want to emphasise clearly that we live in a constitutional state that grants every citizen freedoms. 

"However, a limit has been crossed here and we cannot tolerate that."

He also promised to boost the number of police officers at future planned protest. 

The new rules aim to get more people vaccinated, and Health Minister Paulette Lenert has said they are ‘already bearing fruit’. 

Speakingto RTL, she said appointments for people to get their first dose of the vaccine had tripled to around 900 a day. 

But opponents have since launched petitions to try and have the laws scrapped - with one urging lawmakers to get rid of the requirement to show your CovidCheck documentation before entering private companies or public institutions like hospitals or schools, while demands the issue be taken to a public referendum.


Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@vecumedia

Topics: World News, Coronavirus