Police say that Friday's gathering in downtown Helsinki was mostly calm, but that there were also some confrontations.
“Dozens of demonstrators tried to leave an area indicated by police and head toward the door of the House of Parliament. Police officers were obliged to use OC pepper spray to calm the situation down,” Commissioner Jere Roimu of Helsinki Police told Yle. OC is an abbreviation for oleoresin capsicum, a type of tear gas.
“Most of those present were peaceful city residents, but there were a few dozen participants who tried to cause disturbances. No-one was detained,” Roimu added.
The event was launched by several groups on social media under the slogan “Nyt saa riittää!” (“That’s Enough Now!”). According to one invitation on Facebook, it was a “non-racist” and “politically non-aligned” expression of “dissatisfaction with the country’s current political state”, warning that budget-cutting policies are “undermining the welfare state”.
The march began at 5pm at the House of Estates in Kruununhaka, proceeding along Aleksanterinkatu and Mannerheimintie to the House of Parliament, where it was expected to end before 8pm.
An anarchist website, meanwhile, urged its followers to meet up at 4.45 to prepare to take part in the event.