Student protests spread from France to Belgium over education budget cuts

Student protests have spread from France into Belgium, leading to violent clashes between demonstrators and police officers. According to the Daily Mail, as many as 30,000 demonstrators gathered in Brussels after arriving around 9:30 a.m. local time on 9 October 2026. Protesters threw cobblestones, bricks, and glass bottles at police officers. [1]

The Daily Mail reported that students in Belgium are protesting against significant cuts to the education budget, as the Belgian government seeks to save at least 10 billion euros to decrease its deficit. Protests have occurred across several towns in recent days, inspired by similar student actions across the border in France. [1]

Police have made numerous arrests across the country as demonstrations expanded to multiple Belgian cities. NDTV and Firstpost both reported that over 100 people were arrested, with Firstpost specifying that more than 100 arrests took place in Liege. Travel Daily Media noted that a strike in Belgium also caused flight cancellations at Brussels Airport on 9 October. [2][4][5][6]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, French high school students have been protesting over school conditions since late September. Demonstrations in France involved hundreds of thousands of people, leading to tear gas deployments and thousands of arrests across French cities. Belgium operates a complex federal system balancing regional powers and linguistic communities, with King Philippe serving as head of state. [12][13]