April 7, 2008 (LPAC)--Again, some 8000-10,000 protesting citizens in Vienna surrounded the parliament last Saturday; this action organized by the leftwing platform "Volksabstimmung," with participation by attac France. Also, most interestingly, some municipalities in Austria now have started (as a campaign organized by rettet-oesterreich (Save Austria)) to declare themselves against the treaty, demanding referenda.

On Tuesday, another big protest rally is planned by the Save Austria campaign, in Vienna, and the mobilization, which is rallying 15,000 signatures daily by citizens against the Ttreaty throughout Austria, has forced the media to break their silence on the issue: for the first time, the ORF (Austrian national TV) covered the protests, including giving links to the various organizations' websites. The protest wave has also forced political leaders to come out of their establishment closets, like President Josef Fischer, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassneck and the national bank governor, elaborating on the alleged "many benefits" that Austria would have from the Lisbon Treaty. The national parliament will begin its ratification debate on April 9.

In Denmark, tomorrow the parliament will have the second reading of the EU treaty; the Danish TV for the first time reports, that European Parliament member Jens Peter Bonde and another EU parliamentarian will present 30.000 signatures against the treaty. So far there are no public protest rallies planned, but broader coverage on the media, all of a sudden, can be noted.