Italian police clear anti-coronavirus pass blockade of Trieste port

After days of protests by activists and workers in the port of the northern Italian city of Trieste against the country's recently introduced coronavirus certificate, police have begun clearing the area.

Police officers with helmets and shields as well as water cannon lined up in front of the port's channel number four on Monday morning, as reported by the ANSA news agency and as seen on TV images.

Scuffles broke out with the police, who pushed the protesters back. Water cannons were also used.

Dockworkers and activists had been demonstrating for days against the extension to the workplace of the so-called "green pass," the printable or digital proof of a coronavirus vaccination, a negative test or recovery from the disease.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government had decided that the certificate would be necessary to go to work from last Friday.

The dock workers in Trieste had threatened a blockade as a result. However, operations in the port, which is important for the economy, were not decisively restricted.

The government's decision had already led to fierce clashes with the police in the capital Rome on Saturday a week ago.