Police and protesters clash in Brussels as anti-austerity rally disrupts city
- On Friday, approximately 30,000 people joined a national strike in Brussels organized by Belgian trade unions opposing government budget cuts aimed at saving €10 billion.
- Led by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, the government seeks the cuts to reduce the country's high public deficit, while unions demand tax increases on the highest earners instead of service cuts.
- Masked youths clashed with police near Brussels Central Station, throwing rocks and fireworks while setting fires to public property, prompting officers to deploy water cannons and tear gas.
- Police detained 21 individuals, including 13 minors, following the disturbances, as union head Bert Engelaar publicly distanced organized labor, stating rioters had "nothing to do with the message" of the rally.
- These disturbances follow a week of violent protests in Liège resulting in more than 200 arrests, reflecting a broader wave of European unrest over education funding and living costs.
175 Articles
175 Articles
The ranks of the demonstrators were inflated this Friday by high school students denouncing the budget cuts that hit education in French-speaking Belgium.
Students in Belgium are also protesting government cuts of more than €10 billion in education.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 people marched this Friday 9 October in Brussels, Belgium, against budgetary rigour. The demonstrators were joined by high school students and students, whose action echoes that of French high school students. Scenes of violence and degradation on the margins of the processions were reported. - Brussels: several tens of thousands of people march against rigor and budget cuts in education (International).
The Belgian police detained 20 street rioters, including 13 minors, following a large-scale protest in downtown Brussels, reported to RTBF. In Brussels, youth riots have escalated into clashes with the police, water cannons and tear gas have been used to disperse protesters in selected parts of the city, TASS is passing on RTBF with reference to RTBF. Disturbances began during the day during the authorized action against the decline in living st…
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