Riots in Copenhagen

A little background...
Built in 1897, the "Youth House" in the Nørrebro district was a community theater for the labor movement and a culture and conference center; Vladimir Lenin was among its visitors. In recent years, it has hosted concerts with performers like Australian musician Nick Cave and Icelandic singer Bjork.

Six years ago the government sold the building to a Christian congregation, but the building continued to function as a leftist cultural center. Last year Danish courts declared the building's users to be squatters and ordered an eviction. The 'squatters' refused to leave, claiming the city gave them the building many years ago and therefore had no right to sell it.

Last night...
(Associated Press) - Copenhagen police arrested dozens of people early Sunday in a third straight night of unrest triggered by the eviction of squatters from a disputed youth center. Small groups of protesters threw rocks at police and set fire to trash bins and barricades, but the violence did not escalate into the full-scale riots of the two previous nights.

"We are very happy that the situation was so quiet," police spokesman Lars Borg said. "The people who want to demonstrate have been more ... aware that the things they are doing are not the right things to do."

More than 30 people were arrested near the Christiania hippie enclave after protesters built barricades on a major street and set them on fire around 3 a.m. (0200GMT,) police said. In all, 643 people have been arrested, including 140 foreigners from Europe and the United States, since the clashes started Thursday. They included 20 Swedes, 20 Norwegians and 25 Germans, police said.

One protester was reportedly wounded in the violence early Saturday, while 25 people were injured the night before as angry youth hurled cobblestones at riot police who responded with tear gas. The street violence was Denmark's worst in 14 years. The situation calmed down later Saturday, but police reported skirmishes with separate bands of protesters pelting officers with firecrackers and rocks. Police also said some protesters were pulling trash bins into the street, and in some cases setting them on fire. At least one car was also set ablaze.

A little more background...
I don't know enough about the legal history of the Youth House to have an opinion on whether the government has the right to evict the 'squatters.' What I do know is that people here and in the rest of Europe generally see this as yet another clash between hard-nosed modern captialism and a fading socialist/leftist ideology. This incident has been a call to arms for many leftist groups, and that's why so many of the protesters are not even from Denmark.