Now ‘Freedom Convoys’ hit FRANCE as protesters waving Canadian flags set off for Paris
Now ‘Freedom Convoys’ hit FRANCE as protesters waving Canadian flags set off for Paris to demand an end to Covid restrictions
The group is demanding an end to France’s remaining Covid-19 restrictionsCurrently, French Covid-19 rules bar the unvaccinated from public venues The convoy has been inspired by a blockage by truckers in Canada’s capitalProtesters plan to drive from Nice in southern France to Paris and then Brussels
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Protesters gathered in southern France on Wednesday for what they say will be a ‘freedom convoy’ that will converge on Paris and Brussels.
The group is demanding an end to COVID-19 restrictions, and is inspired by protesters who have blocked a key Canadian border crossing, prompting a state of emergency being declared in the country’s capital of Ottawa.
About 200 protesters assembled in a parking lot in Nice, on France’s Mediterranean coast, with many displaying Canadian flags in a nod to the truckers in Canada who are protesting their own government’s COVID-19 restrictions.
About 200 protesters assembled in a parking lot in Nice, on France’s Mediterranean coast, before setting off in a ‘freedom convoy’ against the country’s Covid-19 measures
French activists parade during the start of their ‘Convoi de la liberte’ (The Freedom Convoy), a vehicular convoy protest converging on Paris to protest COVID-19 vaccine requirements and restrictions in Nice, France, February 9, 2022
The protesters in Nice said they planned to head first to Paris, then on to Brussels – headquarters of the European Union.
They are demanding, among other things, the scrapping of rules barring people from public venues if they don’t have a COVID-19 vaccination, they said.
‘Lots of people don’t understand why a vaccine pass is in force in France,’ said one man who was helping coordinate the convoy from Nice, and who gave his name as Denis.
‘Our work is to communicate to Europe that putting in place a health pass until 2023 is something the majority of our fellow citizens cannot understand,’ said Denis, who declined to give his family name.
Not all of the people setting out from Nice planned to travel all the way to Paris or Brussels. The convoy was made up of motorcycles and private cars, but no trucks – as ha been seen in Canada.
In the city of Perpignan, near France’s border with Spain, around 200 people gathered to set off towards Paris as part of the ‘freedom convoy’ movement.
A French activist holds a poster reading ‘Resistance’ in front of a French and Canadian flag before the start of their ‘Convoi de la liberte’ (The Freedom Convoy) on Wednesday
The protesters in Nice (pictured setting off on Wednesday) said they planned to head first to Paris, then on to Brussels — headquarters of the European Union
Members of the ‘Freedom Convoy 2022’ gather before heading to Paris, in Nice, Wednesday
Their convoy was made up of cars, some camper vans, and one heavy-goods vehicle.
The convoy has apparently been inspired by one in Canada, where authorities are scrambling to find ways to end the 12-day occupation of Ottawa’s downtown.
There, protesters continue to block two border crossings between the United States and Canada, including the key Ambassador Bridge.
The so-called Freedom Convoy began in January in western Canada – launched in anger at requirements that truckers either be vaccinated or test and isolate when crossing the US-Canadian border.
But the movement has morphed into a broader protest against Covid-related restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, and put a spotlight on pandemic curbs around the world.
While police say the number of protesters in Ottawa is dropping, a blockade that started on Monday at the vital Ambassador Bridge linking Canada and the United States is disrupting trade.
Demonstrators have aired a litany of grievances encompassing COVID-19 health measures, a carbon tax and other legislation.
‘We continue to know that science and public health rules and guidance is the best way to this pandemic is the way we’re going to get to the other side,’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters as he entered a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday.
Calls have gone out on social media for similar rallies in Europe and the United States.
In Ottawa, some people are using those media platforms to make a plea: ‘Make Ottawa boring again,’ playing on the Make America Great Again mantra of former US president Donald Trump, who has expressed support for the truckers.
Meanwhile, another copycat convoy in New Zealand faced off with police outside the country’s parliament today.
Policemen stand near the truckers sit-in, after the mayor of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency in the Canadian capital after a 10-day-long protest by truck drivers over Covid-19 restrictions that has gridlocked its city centre, in Ottawa, Canada, 07 February 2022
A convoy of trucks and other vehicles sit parked on the streets in front of Parliament in Wellington on February 8, 2022, during a demonstration against Covid restrictions, inspired by a similar demonstration in Canada
Demonstrators camped inside the Wellington legislature’s grounds vowed to stay ‘as long as it takes’ to force the government into lifting Covid measures.
The protest, which began Tuesday as a copycat of action by the Canadian truckers, turned tense as about 100 police stood guard on the steps of parliament.
Many of the vehicles that jammed central Wellington’s streets the previous day had left by Wednesday, but a hardcore of several hundred protesters pitched tents and refused to leave.
Three were arrested after trying to breach the police line as supporters chanted ‘let them through’ but officials said the event remained largely peaceful.
New Zealand requires mandatory Covid vaccinations for people working in sectors such as health, law enforcement, education and defence, with those who refuse the jab facing the sack.
Proof of vaccination must also be shown to enter restaurants, sports events and religious services.
