PARIS (Reuters), Several hundred people protested outside of Paris’s Austrian Embassy on Thursday, against Austrian’s COVID-19 restrictions. They feared that France would reimpose the curbs aimed to reduce the spread of the virus.

Florian Philippot from far right, who was at the forefront in protests in France against COVID-19’s vaccination certificate and health pass required for most daily activities, organized the event. It went peacefully.

Europe is once again the epicenter of the pandemic. This has prompted some European countries to place restrictions on Christmas Eve and sparked debate about whether vaccinations are sufficient to control COVID-19.

Austria had earlier in the week placed an embargo on anyone not being vaccinated for COVID-19.

Austria’s government was under pressure to enforce a COVID-19 complete lockdown on Thursday. Its worst-hit areas said on Thursday that they would implement the measure, as the number of infections is still increasing despite the lockdown being in place for unvaccinated.

According to an Elabe poll, around 60 percent support a COVID-lockdown in France for people not yet fully immunized against the virus.

But protestors outside the Austrian Embassy Paris stated that discriminatory steps would not be taken and they feared President Emmanuel Macron might take similar measures.

Martine Cirasa, 43 year old language teacher, said that “what is going on in Austria is extremely, very worrying.”

We must first support the Austrians. “I think we’re plumbing the deepest of horror in terms of the proposal, plumbing discrimination to the point that we fear this will occur in France,” she said.

Pierre-Louis (64-year-old ex-soldier) also spoke out.

Belgium tightened coronavirus regulations earlier in the week. They now require more use of masks, and enforce working at home.

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz on Thursday also warned the country must prepare for tough measures in coming months to tackle a new wave of COVID infections.