HOT NEWS ITEM …………“Clashes erupt in Brussels as tens of thousands protest Covid rules” …………. rance24.com/en/europe/20220123-clashes-erupt-in-brussels-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-covid-rules
Police fired water cannon and tear gas Sunday at stone-throwing protesters after tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Brussels against Covid-19 rules.
Authorities estimated that around 50,000 people paraded through the Belgian capital — the largest in a spate of protests in the city over the past months. Clashes broke out close to the headquarters of the European Union as police used water cannon and tear gas to push back protesters hurling paving stones and firecrackers.
BRUXELLES – Les policiers à l’intérieur du Siège du Service européen pour l’action extérieure (SEAE) sont violemment pris à partis.
Importantes tensions en cours. https://t.co/hgzhfku4iD pic.twitter.com/OI5VE21Cab
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) January 23, 2022
News outlet RTL reported that masked demonstrators had smashed a glass entrance to the office of the EU’s foreign policy agency. The protest comes as the Omicron wave causes infections to reach record highs across Europe. Protesters carried signs slamming Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the Covid Safe pass required for entry into numerous venues.
Organisers including the World Wide Demonstration for Freedom and Europeans United for Freedom had called for people to come from other EU states.
Large protest against vaccine passports and Covid restrictions in #Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the administrative center of the European Union.#Bruxelles#Brussel #Brussels #NonAuPassVaccinal pic.twitter.com/hSAMo07EoB
— Artinstantly (@Artinstantly75) January 23, 2022
Flags from Poland, the Netherlands, France and Romania could be seen in the crowd.
Protesters coming from several EU countries
“What has been happening since 2020 has allowed people to wake up to corruption,” said Francesca Fanara, who had travelled from Lille in northern France,
“I have come to march together.”
“It’s a health dictatorship,” said Adolfo Barbosa from Portugal.
“It warms the heart to see these people here.”
The EU’s health agency said on Friday that Omicron had now become the dominant variant circulating in the bloc and some neighbouring countries. Belgium has seen daily infections surge to over 60,000 in the past week in what authorities have called a “tsunami”. But the milder variant and high rate of vaccination — including people getting a third booster jab — means that health systems have not come under the same strain as during earlier waves.
De Croo on Friday announced that restaurants and bars could extend their opening hours — although nightclubs still remain closed. Neighbouring France has said it will begin a gradual lifting of Covid restrictions from February 2 after authorities said there were “encouraging signs” that the wave of infections due to the Omicron variant is ebbing.
NEWSWIRE REPORT 23 January 2022 ….. https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220123-clashes-erupt-in-brussels-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-covid-rules
Police fired water cannon and tear gas Sunday at stone-throwing protesters after tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Brussels against Covid-19 rules.
Authorities estimated that around 50,000 people paraded through the Belgian capital — the largest in a spate of protests in the city over the past months.
Clashes broke out close to the headquarters of the European Union as police used water cannon and tear gas to push back protesters hurling paving stones and firecrackers.
News outlet RTL reported that masked demonstrators had smashed a glass entrance to the office of the EU’s foreign policy agency.
The protest comes as the Omicron wave causes infections to reach record highs across Europe.
Protesters carried signs slamming Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the Covid Safe pass required for entry into numerous venues.
Organisers including the World Wide Demonstration for Freedom and Europeans United for Freedom had called for people to come from other EU states.
Large protest against vaccine passports and Covid restrictions in #Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the administrative center of the European Union.#Bruxelles#Brussel #Brussels #NonAuPassVaccinal pic.twitter.com/hSAMo07EoB
— Artinstantly (@Artinstantly75) January 23, 2022
Flags from Poland, the Netherlands, France and Romania could be seen in the crowd.
“What has been happening since 2020 has allowed people to wake up to corruption,” said Francesca Fanara, who had travelled from Lille in northern France,
“I have come to march together.”
It’s a health dictatorship,” said Adolfo Barbosa from Portugal.
“It warms the heart to see these people here.”
The EU’s health agency said on Friday that Omicron had now become the dominant variant circulating in the bloc and some neighbouring countries.
Belgium has seen daily infections surge to over 60,000 in the past week in what authorities have called a “tsunami”. But the milder variant and high rate of vaccination — including people getting a third booster jab — means that health systems have not come under the same strain as during earlier waves.
De Croo on Friday announced that restaurants and bars could extend their opening hours — although nightclubs still remain closed.
Neighbouring France has said it will begin a gradual lifting of Covid restrictions from February 2 after authorities said there were “encouraging signs” that the wave of infections due to the Omicron variant is ebbing.
(AFP)
