Vilnius - Tear gas and baton charges were used in the Baltic states for the second time in less than a week on Friday when the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, joined the Latvian capital, Riga, as the scene of violent clashes between police and protestors. Around 7,000 people from across Lithuania on Friday gathered outside national parliament and government offices in Vilnius for a union-led demonstration against tax increases, job losses and public spending cuts.
Soon after the official start of the demonstration at midday, some elements in the crowd chanted "Thieves come out!" and pelted the parliament building with a variety of missiles including snowballs, stones, bottles and vegetables, breaking several windows.
An unconfirmed report suggested a shot may have been fired from the crowd through a window.
Soon afterwards, riot police reacted by arresting a group of the most aggressive protestors, who had attempted to break into the parliament building.
Tear gas was then used to disperse the rest of the crowd from the immediate vicinity, before protestors regrouped and made a second attempt to storm the parliament.
Again they were beaten away and teargas was deployed again. Order had largely been restored by around 3 pm.
Around a dozen people were reported to have been injured during the clashes according to a local hospital, but none of them were in a serious condition.
Demonstrators at other locations in Vilnius outside government buildings were less confrontational, contenting themselves with handing in petitions and waving banners. Crowds also gathered in several provincial towns across the country.
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said he was generally satisfied with the authorities' handling of the disturbance and called for cool heads on all sides.
"The dialogue should be lead not by street riots and clashes, but by normal, calm discussions between the people and the government," Adamkus said.
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius convened an emergency meeting of senior state officials and security services on Friday afternoon to plan his response and ensure public safety overnight.
Political protests in neighbouring Latvia descended into violence earlier in the week and similar scenes were also witnessed in Bulgaria as anger over a bleak economic outlook and political mismanagement threatens to boil over.
