Protesters clash with police in Brussels during national strike over budget cuts

Brussels, Belgium. A small group of protesters clashed with police on Friday as union members and hundreds of students marched during a national strike against planned government budget cuts. Police said around 30,000 people joined the march, which passed off peacefully, before clashes erupted near Brussels Central Station and elsewhere in central Brussels.

Clashes and arrests

A few dozen masked protesters dressed in black threw rocks and other objects at police, while anti-police slogans echoed through the streets and anti-police graffiti covered nearby walls, according to Reuters witnesses. Firefighters extinguished several fires, including fires on buses, and police responded with tear gas.

Police said groups threw bottles, bricks, stones and fireworks at officers, set fires and damaged public property. Officers used water cannon and tear gas to disperse them, and 21 people were detained or arrested, including 13 minors.

Strike disrupts services

The strike disrupted public transport and air travel, while many schools and childcare facilities were also affected.

Belgium’s two largest unions, the socialist FGTB/ABVV and Christian CSC/ACV, called the walkout. They oppose government budget measures that they say would make workers, pensioners and low-income households bear the burden of efforts to reduce the country’s deficit.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday that painful budget measures were needed now to avert a looming debt and interest-cost spiral that would otherwise leave future generations with a heavy bill.

Students join wider European protests

Students among the thousands of demonstrators in the Belgian capital were inspired in part by demonstrations in neighbouring France. Some carried placards reading “I skipped class to defend class” and “Education is a right, not a privilege.”

Student groups said they were also protesting rising education costs, overcrowded classrooms and reforms they fear will make higher education less accessible. Their protests began earlier this month in Liege and spread to Brussels on Friday.

The Belgian walkout is part of a wave of protests across Europe. Students in France, Italy and other countries have taken to the streets over education funding, while tens of thousands have rallied in Spain over a housing crisis.