EU wants calm amid virus protests; rioters called ‘idiots’

By RAF CASERT and MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — European authorities are pleading for patience, calm and a willingness to still take a COVID-19 vaccine shot in the arm as infections and demonstrations increase. Protest marches from Zagreb to Rome and Vienna to Brussels and Rotterdam brought tens of thousands out on the streets. All had one message from a coronavirus-weary crowd: We’ve had enough! Government leaders and European Union officials all made clear on Monday that a return to the past is still out of the question and that the violence at some of the marches was counterproductive.