On September 9, 2021, members of Młodzieżowy Strajk Klimatyczny (Youth Climate Strike) staged an occupy protest in front of the Ministry of Climate and Environment in Warsaw. The demonstration demanded urgent government action to address the climate crisis. Protesters gathered with banners reading “Nie ma planety B” (There is no Planet B) and “Działajcie teraz!” (Act Now!), calling for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels, a clear plan to reduce emissions, and a...
On May 1st, Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood became the scene of traditional leftist May Day demonstrations, with thousands of people taking to the streets to protest against social inequality, low wages, and further social cuts. Despite the peaceful nature of the earlier rallies, the situation escalated later in the day, with clashes between protesters and police officers. The police responded with pepper spray, water cannons, and arrests, and more than 7,000 police officers were deployed...
The Night Wolves, a Russian biker gang with strong ties to President Vladimir Putin, embarked on a 3,700-mile journey across Europe to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The group’s controversial route from Moscow to Berlin generated significant attention and led to complications with European authorities. This article examines the Night Wolves’ journey, their encounters with law enforcement, and the public’s reaction to their “victory...
Germany/Austria, Refugees
V33: “Refugees Are Welcome Here” Demonstration for Solidarity and Human Dignity in Berlin
On 21 June 2015, thousands of people gathered in the centre of Berlin to mark World Refugee Day with a peaceful march under the slogan “Refugees Are Welcome Here.” The demonstration began in the multicultural district of Kreuzberg and continued toward the Brandenburg Gate, filling the streets with banners, music, and messages of support for people fleeing war, violence, and poverty. Participants called for open borders, the protection of human rights, and an end to deportations. The march...
In 2010, the Czech city of Brno became a symbolic site of civic resistance against the growing activity of the far-right Workers’ Party of Social Justice (DSSS). The extremist group, successor to the banned neo-Nazi Workers’ Party, announced a public rally in Brno only months after one of the most shocking racist crimes in the country — the arson attack in Vítkov (April 2009), in which a two-year-old Romani girl, Natálka Kudriková, suffered life-threatening burns when neo-Nazis threw Molotov...
On Thursday, August 17th, 2017, police in Poland forcefully removed feminist activists who were participating in a sit-in to block the route of a far-right rally in central Warsaw. The Women’s Strike group and activists from Obywatele RP, who aimed to defend democratic principles in Poland, were attempting to prevent several dozen extremists from marching on Poland’s Armed Forces Day. The feminist protesters, many holding photos of Heather Heyer, the American woman killed during a...
In 2015, the Greek island of Lesbos became one of the main entry points into Europe for people fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. Each day, dozens of overcrowded rubber boats arrived from the Turkish coast, carrying families who had risked everything to cross the Aegean Sea. Local residents and volunteers from across Europe quickly formed spontaneous aid networks to help the exhausted and traumatized newcomers. Among them was Catalan lifeguard Òscar Camps...
On October 3, 2016, Warsaw became one of the central stages of the nationwide Czarny Protest/Strajk kobiet (Black Protest), known as “Black Monday.” Tens of thousands of women and their allies took to the streets dressed in black, protesting against a proposed near-total abortion ban in Poland. The demonstration quickly grew into a symbol of resistance against government policies, with chants such as “My uterus, my business” and “PiS will not pass.” The protest was met by pro-life activists...
The Polish-Belarus border has become a focal point of a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, drawing global attention as refugees find themselves trapped in a perilous situation. What started as a political standoff between the European Union (EU) and Belarus has evolved into a dire situation at the border, with vulnerable individuals bearing the brunt of the escalating tensions. The crisis began in 2021 when Belarus, under President Alexander Lukashenko, allegedly encouraged refugees, to cross into...
On 18 June 2011, Budapest hosted one of its most significant LGBTQ events to date – the Queer Parade, organised as part of the 16th annual Budapest Pride festival. The march followed months of legal uncertainty after police attempted to block the planned extended route. A Budapest court later overturned the restriction, calling it a violation of the right to peaceful assembly and allowing the organisers, the Rainbow Mission Foundation, to proceed with the event. Thousands of participants...
On 10 September 2021, during the 137th monthly commemoration of the Smolensk air disaster, activists from Lotna Brygada Opozycji (LBO) carried out a peaceful artistic intervention on Piłsudski Square in Warsaw. Next to the Pomnik Ofiar Tragedii Smoleńskiej (Monument to the Victims of the Smolensk Tragedy), they assembled a temporary structure made of cardboard boxes, referred to as the “Cardboard Stairs.” The installation, built from around thirty-five boxes and standing four metres high...
On August 29, 2009, approximately 200 Roma residents of Turzovka, a town in the Kysuce region of Slovakia, left their homes a day before a planned anti-Roma protest by the extremist organization Slovenská Pospolitosť (Slovak Brotherhood). Local residents and the town’s mayor confirmed the exodus, with some Roma unable to fit on buses to Ostrava and resorting to taxis and cars. In anticipation of the protest, dozens of police vehicles and hundreds of officers were dispatched to Turzovka. A...