May Day rallies held across Europe, as protests mar celebrations

People cross Europe rallied on Sunday to mark May Day or Labor Day, as clashes among political rivals in a number of countries marred the celebrations.

In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, left-wing parties and labor unions held rallies and street parties to mark the traditional Labor holiday and government leaders delivered speeches vowing to improve employment and social welfare.

Meanwhile, street demonstrations across the continent largely marred the May Day celebrations.

In Berlin, Germany, thousands of young demonstrators clashed with police. The disturbance flared late Sunday and early Monday and several hundred youths hurled bottles at police in the Kreuzberg district. Police detained several suspects.

On Saturday night, Berlin police detained some 69 people when a street party in the neighborhood of Friedrichshain escalated into a riot.

In demonstrations elsewhere in Germany, hundreds of thousands of workers criticized capitalism and denounced companies for squeezing workers' salaries while demanding long working hours.

In the German city of Leipzig, police had arrested about 70 people by Sunday evening as 850 neo-Nazi marchers clashed with 4,000 counter-demonstrators. In Nuremberg, two demonstrators were arrested when 5,000 took to the streets to protest a march by the neo-Nazis.

In France, far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen used May Day to urge the French to reject the European Union constitution, while thousands of others used the traditional marches to voice job concerns and resentment at the cancellation of a public holiday.

About 130 demonstrations nationwide drew about 72,000 people demanding jobs, better pay and shorter working hours. Other hot issues this year were France's referendum on the EU constitution and the government's planned cancellation of the traditional Monday holiday after the Christian festival of Pentecost.

Tens of thousands of Russian communists and labor union workers demonstrated against President Vladimir Putin's social policies in Moscow. The government slashed social benefits for some 40 million people, replacing them with lower-value cash payment.

Violence was reported during at least one rally in the Russian capital. Police closed off many streets in the city center and detained several protesters.

Also rallying Sunday were thousands of people from the Kremlin-backed United Russia party carrying banners which read, "Together we can defeat corruption" and "We believe in ourselves and Russia."

In neighboring Ukraine, some 2,500 communists and their supporters rallied on Sunday in downtown Kiev to protest the pro-Western policies of the current government. Similar rallies were also held in other parts of the country.

In Austria, about 110,000 people gathered in Vienna's City Hall Square to hear Social Democrats leader Alfred Gusenbauer call for a new general election to replace the current government.

Thousands of people took part in some 50 rallies Sunday organized by Spain's two main trade unions, calling for "more stable employment and better social protection."

Spain's jobless rate, at 10,2 percent, remained high by euro-zone standards, with the 12-nation unemployment rate standing at 8.9 percent in February.