Image: UNKNOWN (EXTINCTION REBELLION …STERREICH)
According to a broadcast, the activists wanted to point out both the climate crisis and the increasing poverty in Austria due to high energy costs. While lobbyists, investors and managers “travel to the gas conference with private jets, countless people have frozen this winter and can no longer pay their gas bills, not only in Vienna,” BlockGas said. The group had already protested against the conference on Saturday by blocking the Salztor Bridge in downtown Vienna and temporarily turning the water on the Danube Canal green.
The larger protests against the conference, which will take place from March 27th to 29th in an unspecified downtown hotel, are expected from Monday morning. Verena Gradinger, spokeswoman for the civil society alliance “Blockgas”, expected in a broadcast that “hundreds of demonstrators would travel to Vienna for the protests”. In addition, leading voices in the “Fridays For Future” movement from across Europe have announced their intention to protest against the “‘Who’s Who’ of the destructive gas industry”. According to APA information, the group of the “Last Generation” is not planning any protests of its own.
The police assumed that in addition to the registered demonstrations, there could also be spontaneous protests. Significant traffic delays are to be expected, especially in inner-city areas.
At the European Gas Conference, representatives of the European gas lobby meet in Vienna. From March 27th to 29th, the experts want to network with corporations and politicians. Details about the conference can hardly be found in public.
Source: Nachrichten
