30,000 Join Brussels Anti-Austerity March Amid Clashes

About 30,000 people joined a union-led anti-austerity march in Brussels on October 9, while clashes between police and groups of youths broke out nearby. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse people involved in the disorder, which took place near Brussels Central Station and elsewhere in the city centre. The march itself proceeded peacefully, according to police and union representatives. Police said those involved in the clashes were not linked to the organised demonstration, and union representatives also said the people involved in the violence were separate from their march. The exact relationship between the youths and the wider protests was not independently established in the reports. Police estimated attendance at about 30,000. The demonstration was organised by Belgium’s major socialist and Christian trade unions as part of a national strike against proposed government budget measures. The unions oppose measures they say would place added pressure on workers, pensioners and lower-income households. They have called instead for higher taxes on top earners and object to potential spending cuts and increases in value-added tax.