GOTHENBURG EUROPEAN COUNCIL: RIOTS TARNISH SWEDISH PRESIDENCY'S RECORD.

Delegates expressed astonishment over the violent demonstrations that erupted and the inadequate response from the security forces. For reasons that will need to be determined through an inquiry, security forces were banned from using non-lethal crowd-control measures (tear gas, water canons, etc.). Too few in number and clearly overtaken by events, policemen ended up shooting at highly mobile demonstrators to clear their lines. The situation degenerated to such an extent on the evening of Friday June 15, that the scheduled dinner for leaders had to be cancelled and replaced by a meal at the conference centre where their safety could be guaranteed. Delegations from the Benelux countries and Finland were even evacuated from their hotels as a security measure.The Swedish Government re-established border controls on June 16 using a safety clause in the Schengen Convention. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt insisted the demonstrators were troublemakers devoid of any political inspiration. Mr Persson warned that such scenes, already witnessed in Nice last year, are likely to be repeated elsewhere, a cause for concern according to France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, although Mr Verhofstadt, who is preparing to take over the Presidency of the European Council from July 1, remained sanguine. He indicated that Brussels gained experience in dealing with the Euro 2000 football championships and has to manage more than 2,500 demonstrations each year. The Belgian delegation included several police officers who mixed with demonstrators in an attempt to identify the most militant elements liable to provoke incidents at other European gatherings.Travelling circus.Several European leaders took care to distinguish between peaceful demonstrators, who constituted by far the bulk of the crowds several tens of thousands strong, and mainly German and Danish rioters. However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair showed little sympathy for one of the protesters' central themes, anti-globalisation, arguing that it is precisely by encouraging free trade that the poorest countries can be given their chance, and that far from relaxing the drive towards the liberalisation of world trade, the policy should be given further impetus. Nor would Mr Blair support the methods of the rioters. "I think it is very important that we don't concede an inch to these people", he said. "It is very sad that this has happened, not so much for us, because the leaders will be all right, but for thousands of ordinary citizens who have been put in danger and at risk." The British Prime Minister said there was a place for peaceful demonstration - but rioters were not democratically elected. "They do not have the right to come and disrupt meetings. They are not entitled to engage in undemocratic anarchy. Peaceful protest is an essential part of a democracy, violent protest is not, and has no place in a democracy. This effectively is an anarchists' travelling circus that goes from Summit to Summit with the sole purpose of causing as much mayhem as possible."A link was also drawn with the result of the Irish referendum, Mr Blair insisting that it must be taken into account, whilst Luxembourg's Premier Jean-Claude Juncker warned against adopting a condescending stance towards the Irish people. Nicole Fontaine, the President of the European Parliament, warned that the...