ECB ignores debt dilemma - Frankfurt protests

IN his 1974 novel, Take the War to Washington, Peter Van Greenaway deals with the Vietnam War, envisaging disaffected veterans literally bringing the conflict — with all its horrors — to the centre of power in the US.

That is what appears to be happening in Frankfurt, the seat of financial power not just in Germany but in the EU.

Anti-austerity protesters yesterday clashed with riot police near the new, grotesquely lavish headquarters of the European Central Bank. It was organised by Blockupy, an alliance of leftist groups that has repeatedly led protests in Frankfurt’s banking district, mostly directed at the ECB.