On Friday, Belgians marched in central Brussels to voice their opposition to cuts the incoming government says are necessary to help the country’s troubled financial sector, Reuters reported
According to union leaders, more than 50,000 demonstrators are expected to join the protests in Brussels.
Belgians are protesting against cuts to unemployment benefits, limits on early retirement, as well as spending cuts in the public sector.
Protesters say the austerity should be paid by the banks and financiers responsible for the situation.
This is while Belgium’s new socialist premier will be sworn-in early next week to try and end a crisis that left the country without a government for 19 months.
The coalition government in Brussels has agreed to cut the country’s deficit by more than eleven-billion euros next year, in order to bring its budget deficit below the EU limit of three percent of gross domestic product.
The protests in Brussels follow recent similar protests in other European nations such as Greece, Portugal, and the UK.