Twelve wounded policemen, 74 arrested, a few burned cars – this is the balance of yesterday’s protests in Brussels against fuel price increases. The Belgian Minister of the Interior has announced that today the police will also be mobilized.
The protest of the so-called yellow safety vests has moved from France to Belgium. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Jan Jambon, in connection with the protests promised in France today, the police forces in the Belgian capital remain ready. The detention of aggressive people after yesterday’s protests will also be continued today.
“People who have been detained today will hear accusations. You can protest, but attacks on policemen are unacceptable. And those who have committed acts of aggression and have not been arrested yet cannot feel peaceful. We have recordings from cameras and testimonies.” said the VRT head of the Belgian Ministry of the Interior.
Yesterday’s demonstration went quietly to a certain point, but later the demonstrators began blocking tunnels in the city, overturning police cars and setting them on fire. Protesters threw stones at the Prime Minister’s seat and demanded his resignation.
Protests in Belgium moved to this country from France. On December 1, another wave of protests will be rolled over France on Saturday. It will be the third consecutive Saturday when demonstrations against fuel price increases will take place in the country.
Five thousand policemen were mobilized in Paris. Champs Elysees closed for vehicular traffic. Passers-by everywhere – bags and backpacks are checked. All this is to guard against a repeat of the riots of last week when shops and restaurants were demolished, cars were burned. The losses were estimated at one million Euros.
“Yellow vests” – because of the wearing of this type of reflective clothing with reflective tapes to ensure road safety is called protesters’ movement, they do not intend to put up a gun, they will demonstrate against fuel rises, more than six cents per liter will be fueled by diesel oil, according to President Emmanuel Macron be an element of the fight for environmental protection.
The attempt to talk with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe with “yellow vests” was considered a failure. Of the eight guests invited there were two, but the head of the government decided that the conversation was interesting, direct, respectful, useful and added that the door to his office at the Matignon Palace they are always open to “yellow vests.” Traders complain about losses, but as many as 85 percents of the population support the protesters.