Yellow vest protestors confront police on Loi Street in Brussels on Sunday.[Photo by NingYuqi / for China Daily]
Hundreds of yellow vest demonstrators marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday, voicing their concerns on taxes, pensions, and civil rights issues.
Seventy protestors were detained following a violent clash and confrontation with police, according to local newspaper Le Soir.
Activists from more than 25 countries launched the protest, which they called European Act Ⅱ: Yellow Vests Invade Brussels. The event carried the slogan “Yellow vests together from every country”.
Demonstrators took to the streets holding flags of the European Union, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and other countries, and wielded banners with slogans, such as “Your silence will be violence” and flags emblazoned with “Stop the taxes” in French.
Their demands revolve around lower taxes, better pensions, equal civil rights, and social justice.
“What we do here is fight the government for abatement of taxes, reduction of expenses on essential energy, like electricity and fuel, and better healthcare. We still have a long way to go,” Brigitte Dupont, from the Belgian-French border area, told China Daily.
The latest yellow vest protest started peacefully during the fifth national climate march at the North Railway Station in Brussels at 1 pm but turned violent an hour later when a group of masked men smashed windows on an EU building that houses an information point for the external cooperation of the European Commission. The ground floor windows were smashed with bricks while an agitated protestor spray-painted “COLLAPSE” on the wall of the building in yellow.
A yellow vest activist holds a Belgian flag emblazoned with a slogan calling for taxes to be cut on Sunday. [Photo by Ning Yuqi / for China Daily]
The disturbance blocked off the movement of climate change protestors on Loi Street, 800 meters from EU headquarters where the yellow vest protesters mixed with the 8,000 green-vest wearing activists taking part in the environmental march.
Minor physical clashes erupted when an aggressive young man was wrestled to the ground by police while the demonstrators shouted slogans over loudspeakers and lit flares.
“We are here to track and continue the movement of the yellow vests in France and Germany. We won’t stop before the government hears our voice,” said Bart Vanzetti, a red-bearded man in a yellow vest.
The Brussels event came just one day after the 20th round of French yellow vest demonstrations. On Saturday, marchers in Paris were undeterred by protest bans put in place by the French government.
Brussels is not a new front in the yellow vest battle. The movement demonstrated there in December, when about 400 people were arrested during riots.
The protestors have used new media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, to call on people to protest.
“Our voice can rarely be heard in traditional media,” said Bettina Putzeys, a cleaner in Brussels.
According to the homepage of “European Act Ⅱ” on Facebook, more than 1,800 people showed their willingness to join the demonstration before it was held.
The Belgian capital was on high alert, with a helicopter monitoring the parade from the sky and several patrol wagons following from the North Station to Cinquantenaire Park. Nearby subway stations were closed as a precaution.
The climate march went on as planned after being held up for 30 minutes because of the disturbances caused by the yellow vest protestors.
Environmentalists said they too would continue their protests.
“Gathering people together is only a small step,” Vanzetti said. “As long as the system of capitalism is not adjusted for the poor, as long as the ecosystem is not protected, we do not reach success.”
