OMM Newsroom
Police used water cannons and tear gas during clashes with protesters in Brussels on Saturday, as students and supporters rallied in two Belgian cities against education reforms, austerity measures and police repression, Anadolu Agency reported.
Tensions rose at about 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) near Brussels-Midi railway station, where demonstrators used construction fencing to build a barricade and threw projectiles at police, public broadcaster RTBF reported. Officers responded with water cannon and tear gas before moving toward the crowd.
Earlier in the morning, around 100 students and adults, including teachers and trade union activists, had gathered near Brussels Central Station. The demonstration was initially unauthorized, but protesters later received permission to march toward Brussels-Midi. Police deployed in large numbers and stopped and searched several people.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against police repression and federal government policies. The gathering followed clashes between police and students on the sidelines of a trade union demonstration on Oct. 9.
In Liege, around 250 people, mostly young people, assembled outside Liege-Guillemins station and then marched peacefully toward the city center, Belga news agency reported.
Workers and parents joined the procession. Participants raised concerns about education funding, tuition fees, public transport costs, working conditions and social inequality.
Students described financial pressures that force young people to combine work with their studies, which can lead some to leave their education. Some participants also expressed solidarity with Saturday’s mobilization in France against rising living costs.
