German police surround protesters at a Blockupy demonstration at Frankfurt’s Fraport airport on May 31, 2013.<\/p>\n
Security forces have used pepper spray against thousands of anti-austerity and anti-capitalist protesters who had gathered for a second day of demonstrations in Germany\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s fifth largest city of Frankfurt.\n<\/p>\n
The approximately 5,000 demonstrators belonging to the Blockupy movement marched in Frankfurt on Saturday in protest against the worsening financial conditions of Europe.\n<\/p>\n
Protesters are holding the so-called Troika of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank responsible for the current crisis by dictating policies to EU governments.\n<\/p>\n
“We would clearly like to say that the policies of the European Central Bank and the troika … are not the solution,” Roland Suss, a Blockupy spokesman said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Protesters are accusing their government of punishing the poor by imposing austerity measures.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the protesters took to the streets and cut off access to financial institutions such as the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Deutsche Bank headquarters to \u00c5\u201cprevent normal operations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The demonstrations coincide with the ECB\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s 15th anniversary.\n<\/p>\n
Similar protests are scheduled to take place later on Saturday in Portugal and Spain.\n<\/p>\n
Blockupy began after the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008 and most European governments have taken tough austerity measures to contain their debt crises.\n<\/p>\n
The harsh measures and tough economic reforms have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.\n<\/p>\n
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