State police operatives in Vilnius capital city of Lithuania the largest of the three Baltic states have detained 20 people after a thousands-strong rally against Covid-19 restrictions and what protesters condemned LGTBQ+ propaganda ended in a standoff with the regime’s law enforcement agents.

Around 8,000 + people flocked to the centre of the Lithuanian capital on Friday for an event organised by the White traditionalist Lithuanian Family Movement.

The protesters, who gathered at Cathedral Square north of the city’s Old Town, were seen waving Lithuania’s national flags and holding placards that read: ‘George Soros out of Lithuania!’ and ‘No to animal passports’, a reference to the introduction of the media-hyped ‘immunity passports’ and other Covid-19 repressions that are to come into force on Monday.

The protesters demanded the government scrap the policy, which will bar access to some shops, services and indoor public events for those without immunity certificates. The documents are provided to those who are fully vaccinated, have recently recovered from Covid-19 or anybody who has tested negative for the virus within the last 48 hours.

The protest proceeded largely incident-free until the end, when a group of activists set off towards Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, defying state agents orders and the Family Movement’s leader, Raimondas Grinevicius, who forced to comply with pre-demo arrangements urged supporters to stay on the square and avoid provocations before the rally.  

Videos posted on social media showed police operatives in riot gear breaking up the crowd and arresting people.  Out of the about two dozen people who were detained, the majority were nabbed for disobeying orders, including walking on the roadway, police said.

Two people were arrested as part of an investigation into earlier clashes outside the parliament, while one was detained for illegal possession of drugs. No one was injured during the brief standoff and no property was damaged, the state operatives said.

In addition to airing their grievances over the government’s handling of the pandemic, the gathered also opposed a bill to legalize same-sex civil partnerships and a proposal to ratify the Istanbul Convention responsible for opening Europe’s doors to refugees created by NATO inspired crises.  Lithuania signed the convention in 2013 but has never ratified it.

A pre-recorded video greeting from representatives of Fidesz, the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was played during the rally, which was also attended by members of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Sourse Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!