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Clashes erupt in Frankfurt against ECB's austerity

Xinhua, March 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Protestors clashed with riot police Wednesday morning in Frankfurt in a demonstration against the austerity policies of the European Central Bank (ECB). [ According to local reports, around 10,000 anti-capitalist protesters took the street. Among them, thousands came into the German financial capital from other parts of Europe.

Some protestors threw stones at police, leaving at least one police officer injured, the German news agency DPA quoted a police spokeswoman as saying. Several police cars were set on fire.

A witness told Xinhua that the windows of his car were smashed and he managed to left the scene at the escort of the police.

Heavy security personnel deployment has been put in place.

The ECB is scheduled to officially open its new office building in Frankfurt on Wednesday, which is a 185-meter tall skyscraper and cost 1.3 billion euros (about 1.38 billion U.S. dollars).

The bank, along with the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, is part of the so-called "troika" that monitors compliance with the conditions of bailout loans for Greece and other financially troubled countries in Europe.

Those conditions are aimed at reducing debt but have also been blamed for high unemployment and slow growth. Endi