EU member states are "intensively" monitoring the risk of spreading civil unrest in Europe, as riots over the economic crisis erupt in Iceland following street clashes in Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Greece.
The worst street disturbances for 50 years struck Reykjavik on Thursday (22 January), as police streamed a hardcore of a few hundred anti-government protesters in the early morning with pepper spray and then tear gas after an earlier crowd of around 2,000 gathered outside the Althingi, the country's parliament, to demand the government resign.
I had no idea that Iceland even had the need for riot police. Iceland is not an EU member, the article notes, but I have to wonder what would happen if local police in an EU state can't readily cope with any riots? Would other EU states be called on to send in police to quell disturbances lest they spread to other countries? How would locals view such "fraternal assistance" by foreign troops?
I just have nagging feeling I should pay far more attention to this developing situation.
