Brussels: 50,000 take to the streets to protest against austerity. Barricades set alight at the station

Clashes between demonstrators and the police have been ongoing for hours around the Gare du Midi, Brussels’ main station, which connects the city to other European capitals. Young and very young students continue to throw stones and firecrackers at the police, who are responding with water cannons and tear gas.

Several “casseurs” – literally ‘those who break things’ in French – targeted a number of vehicles parked near the station, setting fire to more than one. Public transport stops opposite the station’s main entrance were also devastated, with at least one parked bus destroyed. A few hundred youths continue to scatter in groups through the streets surrounding the station in the Anderlecht district.

The unrest around the Gare began at the end of the demonstration organised by the trade unions to mark the ‘national strike’ – the days of action against the Belgian government’s policies. The march set off in the morning from Brussels Central station, so called because of its location in the city centre. Clashes are continuing, however, near Gare du Midi, which is the city’s central and busiest station and is situated to the south, between the districts of Saint Gilles and Anderlecht.

Among the chants from the demonstrators were those directed against the police and the slogan ‘we are all anti-fascists’, which is also a hallmark of the protests in France.

Clashes between demonstrators and the police in the European capital broke out on the fringes of the nationwide protest against the austerity measures planned by the Belgian government. Several hundred people threw objects at officers and set fire to dozens of hire bicycles, according to the Belga news agency, which reported that the police responded by using tear gas and water cannons. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people took part in the demonstration.