BRUSSELS
Police have fired tear gas and water cannon on protesters after about 100,000 people took to the streets of the Belgian capital of Brussels to protest against the government’s "austerity measures".
Violence broke out after the demonstrators marched on Thursday in protest against government’s policies including raising the pension age, restricting wages and cutting public services.
Belgium’s unions have called for a series of strikes every Monday, starting from November 24, leading up to a general strike on December 24.
Local transport company MIVB reported in a statement released on Thursday that subway, tram and bus lines were heavily disrupted as staff members joined the demonstration.
The protest also came on the day European media reported on an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists which revealed Luxembourg has secretly been helping multinational corporations avoid tax, while much of Europe is undergoing government-imposed austerity measures under the label of "free-market reforms".
- Political storm
The protests, which came after 40,000 people demonstrated against labor reforms in April, was larger than organizers had anticipated.
Belgium’s new center-right, four-party coalition government under Prime Minister Charles Michel took office on October 11, pledging to balance the national budget by 2018 by cutting about €8 million ($10 million) from the state budget and raising the retirement age from 65 to 67.
The linguistically divided country – which has French, Flemish and German speakers – is facing a slow-moving economy, which is expected to grow little more than one percent this year.
The demonstration comes amid heightened tensions within the European Union with the newly-elected President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, saying the 28-nation bloc "urgently" needs reinvestments.
Plans for a €300 billion investment package also come shortly after the U.K. was presented with a demand to pay at least €2 billion extra into the EU budget by December 1, which has created a political storm in the country.
www.aa.com.tr/en
