Frankfurt protests: police cars set on fire and officers pelted with stones outside European Central Bank’s headquarters

 
Demonstration: masked protesters stand near a burning police car at the new European Central Bank (Picture: EPA)
Rashid Razaq18 March 2015

Police cars were set on fire and officers pelted with stones when violence flared during a protest against the opening of the European Central Bank’s new headquarters in Frankfurt.

One officer was injured and two patrol cars set alight near the city’s Alte Oper opera house.

Demonstrators tried to blockade the inauguration ceremony for the bank’s new building in a protest over the bank’s role in overseeing austerity measures in countries such as Greece.

Police said most of the protesters, who include trade unionists and Germany’s Left Party, are expected to be peaceful during a day of rallies.

Fire: cars burning next to the European Central Bank (Picture: Reuters)

But they accused a fringe element of using the march as cover for attacks on police and property.

The ECB said it intends to remain “fully operational” despite police barricades and barbed wire around its headquarters but some employees might work from home.

The ECB, along with the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, is part of the so-called "troika" that monitors compliance with the conditions of bailout loans for Greece and other financially troubled countries in Europe.

Those conditions include spending cuts and reducing deficits, moves that are aimed at reducing debt but have also been blamed for high unemployment and slow growth.

Greece's new left-wing government blames such policies for a "humanitarian crisis" leading to poverty for pensioners and the unemployed.

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