Lithuanian protestors clash with police

Violent political protests sweeping parts of Eastern Europe have spread to Lithuania, where police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a rock-throwing mob attacking parliament.

Fifteen people were injured and more than 80 detained in several hours of street fighting between angry protesters and helmeted riot police.

The violence followed similar riots this week in Bulgaria and Latvia amid a wave of discontent over economic woes, difficult reforms and government corruption.

In all three countries, peaceful anti-government rallies ended in vandalism and brawls with police.

“There are forces that are interested in destabilisation and chaos in Lithuania, and they are using the public’s dismay over painful reforms to achieve their hostile plans,” Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said in the capital, Vilnius.

His centre-right coalition, in power less than two months, has been criticised for tax increases that the government said were needed to shore up state finances.

The Finance Ministry announced it intended to borrow almost €1bn from the European Investment Bank to plug a yawning budget gap. The Baltic country’s economy is expected to enter a recession this year.

“We are here today because this government is mocking us,” said Liucija Mukiene, a 63-year-old protester in Vilnius.

“They are taking away our last money and providing nothing. I am fed up with the lies, corruption and those grinning, fat faces behind the windows of parliament.”

Some 7,000 protesters had gathered outside parliament to demonstrate against the government’s reforms. The violence started when police pushed away protesters who were demanding to see the parliamentary speaker.

The angry mob hurled rocks, eggs and snow balls at officers and the parliament building, shattering about a dozen windows. Police responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the angry mob.

The Interior Ministry said 15 people were injured, including four police officers. One protester lost a finger to a rubber bullet, police said.

On Tuesday more than 100 people were detained and some 40 injured in Baltic neighbour Latvia, when anti-government protesters clashed with police. Dozens were injured in Bulgarian clashes on Wednesday.

Analysts warned the violence could spread as the economic crisis deepens, especially in former communist countries that had seen spectacular growth in recent years.

“It’s quite dramatic when you’ve had (gross domestic product) growth of 10% and fall to minus 5%, like Latvia,” said Thorbjorn Becker, director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, or SITE. “As people become unemployed and watch their income fall this year, you will likely see regular incidents of this kind.”