Thousands rally for anti-austerity protest in Brussels amid clashes

Belgian police respond to ‘troublemakers’ on sidelines of main rally with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges.

A protester prepares to launch a tear gas canister during a labour union-based demonstration against the federal government's budgetary measures near the Brussels South railway station in Belgium on Friday [AFP]

Clashes have erupted near Brussels Central station on the sidelines of a demonstration organised by the country’s socialist trade union against the federal government’s austerity plans.

As thousands of protesters gathered at the station on Friday, a smaller group clashed with the police and threw wooden beams, glass bottles and rubbish bins, The Belgian Times reported.

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Police were deployed in large numbers around the stations as officers checked groups of young people not wearing trade union colours.

Police said the main trade union rally went ahead peacefully but “groups of troublemakers were responsible for serious incidents before and after the march.”

Riot police responded to those protesters with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges. Police said those who “cause the problems of public order are not linked” to the rally.

Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeera’s Rosie Birchard said damage was caused during Friday morning’s protests with an “acrid smell of burning in the air”, due to fires that were set and the tear gas.

“Police [and] emergency services have been arriving, starting to disperse or clean up and then the protests flare up again. So the day is still early; often these things get worse in the evening in terms of the street violence,” Birchard explained.

“There were some young people who came out, they say they were inspired by what they had seen in France in terms of school protests, and they also wanted to talk about the education environment they’re learning in,” she said, adding that the students felt that they were “not being listened to”.

A protester gestures next to burning shared bikes during a labour union-based demonstration against the federal government’s budgetary measures near the Brussels South railway station in Brussels [AFP]

The clashes came after a week of tension in the city of Liege after authorities banned gatherings as students clashed with police and vandalised shops. More than 200 people were arrested in Liege, and dozens of police were injured.

The ABVV trade union and the Christian ACV, the country’s two biggest unions, organised protests on Friday morning, with protesters marching from Brussels Central station to Brussels South Station under the slogan “stay out of our pockets”.

Police said about 30,000 people attended the demonstrations, while ABVV had earlier estimated attendance at 50,000.

The anger stems from the government’s austerity measures, as officials consider a new budget that opposes potential measures that affect purchasing power, the wage indexation system and value-added tax (VAT), as well as plans to introduce annualised working time.

At the same time, the ACV organised a separate protest involving hundreds of activists at the capital’s headquarters of the governing coalition parties.

比利时警方对主要集会场外的“闹事者”使用催泪瓦斯、水炮和警棍进行驱散。

周五，在比利时布鲁塞尔南火车站附近，一名抗议者准备在工会组织的示威活动中发射催泪瓦斯罐，抗议联邦政府的预算措施。[法新社]

在布鲁塞尔中央车站附近，该国社会主义工会组织了一场示威活动，抗议联邦政府的紧缩计划，期间爆发了冲突。

据《比利时时报》报道，周五，数千名抗议者聚集在车站，其中一小群人与警方发生冲突，并投掷木梁、玻璃瓶和垃圾桶。

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警方在车站周围部署了大量警力，检查未穿工会服装的年轻人群体。

警方表示，主要的工会集会和平进行，但“一些滋事分子在​​游行前后制造了严重事件”。

防暴警察使用催泪瓦斯、高压水枪和警棍驱散了示威者。警方表示，那些“制造公共秩序问题的人与集会无关”。

半岛电视台记者罗西·伯查德从布鲁塞尔报道称，周五上午的抗议活动造成了破坏，空气中弥漫着刺鼻的烧焦气味，这是由于有人纵火和使用了催泪瓦斯造成的。

“警察和紧急救援人员已经抵达现场，开始驱散人群或进行清理，但抗议活动随后再次爆发。所以现在还早；通常情况下，到了晚上，街头暴力事件会更加严重，”伯查德解释说。

“有一些年轻人站了出来，他们说他们受到了法国校园抗议活动的启发，他们也想谈谈他们所处的教育环境，”她说道，并补充说，学生们觉得他们“没有被倾听”。

在布鲁塞尔南火车站附近，一名抗议者在燃烧的共享单车旁做手势，当时工会正在举行示威活动，反对联邦政府的预算措施。[法新社]

冲突发生前，列日市已持续一周局势紧张。此前，当局禁止集会，学生与警方发生冲突并破坏商店。列日有超过200人被捕，数十名警察受伤。

该国最大的两个工会——ABVV工会和基督教ACV工会——于周五上午组织了抗议活动，抗议者从布鲁塞尔中央车站游行至布鲁塞尔南站，口号是“别从我们口袋里掏钱”。

警方称约有 3 万人参加了示威活动，而 ABVV 此前估计参加人数为 5 万人。

民众的愤怒源于政府的紧缩措施，官员们正在考虑一项新的预算，该预算反对可能影响购买力、工资指数化制度和增值税 (VAT) 的措施，以及引入年度工作时间的计划。

与此同时，ACV组织了一场单独的抗议活动，数百名活动人士在首都执政联盟政党的总部举行了抗议活动。