UPDATE - People take to streets, squares across Europe to celebrate May Day

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By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – People across Europe on Wednesday took to the city streets and squares to celebrate May Day.

During demonstrations across the UK, over 1,000 workers blockaded the UK Trade Department in London and BAE Systems’ arms factories in Scotland, Wales, and Lancashire in support of Palestinians.

In rallies across the country, there were many Palestinian flags and banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

In France, responding to the call by major trade unions and student associations, people from across the country, including Marseille, Reims, and Lyon, gathered in city squares to mark the day, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

In the western city of Nantes, where thousand rallied, clashes broke out between a group dressed in black identifying itself as Antifa and the police.

In Paris, police arrested 15 people before the main body of a demonstration departed.

In the southern city of Lyon, 17 people were arrested by police after clashes broke out between some groups and the police.

France’s General Confederation of Labor (CGT) announced early Wednesday that some 265 rallies were expected to take place nationwide marking the day.

Palestinian flags and banners condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza were visible in numerous rallies across the country.

In the Greek capital Athens, thousands of people, including students, public and private sector workers, and pensioners, gathered around the central Syntagma Square at the call of left-wing trade unions and political parties.

The participants also carried Palestinian flags and banners with solidarity messages in support of the Palestinian people and protesting US university students.

Addressing the crowd, Palestinian Ambassador in Athens Yussef Dorkhom thanked them for the solidarity they showed with Palestine.

In Sweden’s capital Stockholm, hundreds of demonstrators demanded an immediate end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, calling for them to be acknowledged as war crimes.

They shouted such slogans as “Free Palestine, Free Gaza, Sanction Israel” and “Stop the Genocide in Gaza.”

In Italy, tens of thousands of people gathered in the northern city of Monfalcone, which was chosen to host this year’s celebrations by the country’s major trade unions, according to the state-run ANSA news agency.

In the Bulgarian capital Sofia, thousands of people from throughout the country marched through the main streets of the city demanding higher wages and better social security benefits, the state-run BTA news agency reported.

International Workers' Day, also known as Labor Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is marked every year on May 1 to pay tribute to laborers around the world.