Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to ward off protesters outside Lithuania's parliament Friday, as thousands joined a demonstration against an austerity drive. At least one officer and one demonstrator were injured in scuffles between the protesters and 300 security forces in troubles which erupted only three days after similar protests in neighbouring Latvia also turned violent.
Police said 7,000 people attended the Vilnius rally called by trade unions. Several hundred mainly young protesters darted in and out of the crowd throwing smoke bombs, snowballs, eggs and stones, breaking at least one window in parliament and smashing the windscreens of nearby vehicles.
Officials said they were investigating the possible use of a weapon, after discovering what appeared to be a bullet-sized hole in a parliament window. Tear gas and rubber bullets were fired to force the protesters back from the building. President Valdas Adamkus criticised the troublemakers, saying public concerns should be expressed "not by street riots and clashes, but by normal, calm dialogue between the people and the government".
However, he told reporters he agreed "to a certain extent" that the government was detached from the public. Simmering political and economic frustration fuelled a similar protest in Latvia, where hundreds of protesters from a rally of 10,000 clashed with riot police in the capital on Tuesday night. Almost 100 people were arrested and dozens hurt.
Like their counterparts in Latvia, which is in the grip of the sharpest recession in the 27-nation European Union, Lithuania's labour organisations have blasted belt-tightening moves.
The centre-right government which took office last month is introducing measures that it says are meant to tackle growing economic problems. On the horizon are public sector pay cuts of 12-15 percent and reduced social security payments. The government has also decided to raise Value Added Tax from 18 to 19 percent, and to end the favourable five-percent rate on medicine and home heating.
In addition, it plans a 21-percent personal income tax - currently 24 percent - rather than a promised 20 percent. Lithuanian officials have said the goal is to save 5.3 billion litas (1.5 billion euros, 2.0 billion dollars) this year, to close a gaping deficit.
Lithuania, which declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, has enjoyed a reputation as an economic "tiger," notably since joining the EU in 2004. The economy of this country of 3.4 million people grew 8.9 percent in 2007 after 7.8 percent in 2006. But in the face of rampant inflation and the global economic crisis, growth is believed to been slowed to 3.5 percent in 2008 - final figures are yet to be released - and a 4.8-percent recession is expected this year.
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