Plight of eatery outlets in Germany draws 'Empty Chair' protests

The initiative called 'Empty Chairs' started in the Saxon capital of Dresden, where more than 1,000 empty chairs were put in the old central square.

Berlin: Hundreds of chairs were put in front of monuments across Germany to draw attention to the plight of restaurateurs, hoteliers and event organisers to highlight their economic suffering due to coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The initiative called "Empty Chairs" started in the Saxon capital of Dresden last Friday, where more than 1,000 empty chairs were put in the old central square.

Germany is letting small shops reopen after a four-week coronavirus shutdown, but Europe's biggest economy is keeping strict social distancing rules in place.

Restaurants are not allowed to reopen for the moment.

The German government launched two rescue packages to try to ease the flow of financial aid to small and medium-size companies squeezed by the coronavirus crisis.

Restaurateurs also got their VAT lowered from 19% to 7%, but the business community say this is not enough.

(AP)