Clashes Erupt as Tens of Thousands March Against Austerity in Brussels

Tens of thousands of people marched through Brussels on Friday in a national strike against planned government budget cuts, as masked protesters clashed with police near the capital’s Central Station, prompting officers to deploy tear gas and water cannon.

Police said about 30,000 people joined the peaceful march, while the ABVV union estimated the turnout at 50,000. Twenty-one people were detained or arrested, including 13 minors, after groups threw rocks, bottles, bricks and fireworks at police and set fires in central Brussels.

FAKTA

• What: National strike and protest march in Brussels against government budget cuts.
• Who: Called by Belgium’s two largest unions, FGTB/ABVV and CSC/ACV; hundreds of students joined.
• When: Friday, October 9, 2026; the march began at 10 am local time.
• Where: From Brussels Central Station toward Brussels South Station; clashes near Central Station and in central Brussels.
• Turnout: About 30,000 according to police; 50,000 according to the ABVV union.
• Arrests: 21 people detained or arrested, including 13 minors.

Brussels protest clashes turn violent near Central Station

The clashes erupted when groups of masked young people, dressed in black, broke away from the main demonstration. Firefighters extinguished several fires, including on buses, while protesters set bicycles ablaze at Albertina Square, sending a large plume of smoke into the air, according to local media.

Why workers marched

The unions oppose government budget measures they say would make workers, pensioners and low-income households bear the burden of efforts to reduce the country’s deficit. The demonstration marched under the slogan “Stay out of our pockets” against measures affecting purchasing power, the wage indexation system, VAT and plans to introduce annualized working time.

ABVV chairman Bert Engelaar warned before the march that a nationwide strike could take place in November if the government crosses the union’s “red lines”.

Part of a European protest wave

The Belgian walkout is part of a wave of protests sweeping Europe, with students in France and Italy taking to the streets over education funding and tens of thousands rallying in Spain over a housing crisis.

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

More of Watan News’s English coverage follows Europe’s protest wave.