Brussels erupts as 30,000 protesters clash with riot police over Belgian government's €10bn austerity cuts

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026 · last updated 10 October 2026.

Riot police in Brussels turned water cannons and tear gas on crowds Friday after masked youths pelted officers with rocks, bottles and fireworks near Brussels Central Station. Some 30,000 demonstrators, among them students, took to the streets against Prime Minister Bart De Wever's €10 billion public spending cuts. Two buses were set ablaze and destroyed, scooters and rubbish bins were also torched, and anti-police graffiti appeared across the city. Belgium's two largest trade unions called the national strike, and a further public-sector walkout is scheduled for Monday.

Officers arrested or detained 21 people, including 13 minors, with the heaviest violence concentrated around Gare du Midi.

Union leaders repudiated the violence, stating that the masked groups had no connection to their movement.

The Belgian unrest forms part of a broader wave of protest across Europe, with students in France and Italy also demonstrating against education cuts.