Riots Rock Brussels As Hooded Men, Students Torch Capital City

Fire, fireworks and clouds of tear gas turned Belgium’s capital into a battleground Thursday afternoon as a demonstration against education cuts collapsed into open conflict with police.

Thousands of students poured into the city to oppose education reforms pushed by the French Community of Belgium, also known as the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB), with many teachers joining after unions called a strike, the Belgian news outlet Brussels Times reported. Crowds first assembled near the FWB Parliament around midday while lawmakers debated the measures, then moved toward Brussels-Central station, where demonstrators, including hordes of hooded men, torched barriers, bicycles and other objects in the road.

Officers in riot gear later sealed off the area near the station, where roughly 15 police vans, a fire engine and a circling helicopter were on hand, the Brussels Times reported. Police moved in around 4:15 p.m. on Rue des Colonies with tear gas and water cannon, and the gathering had thinned to a few hundred people by 6 p.m. (RELATED: ‘No Kings’ Protests Turn Violent Across Country As ‘Communist Revolution’ Chants Ring Out In NYC)

Roughly 22% of Brussels residents are Belgians with a Belgian background, according to a government report. In the Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders, 77% of residents are Belgians with a Belgian background.

The turnout near the station reached about 2,000, with more protesters reportedly traveling in from other Walloon cities, Belga News Agency reported. The disorder had started hours before the main clash. At the Saint-Guido metro stop in Anderlecht, young people dragged fencing onto the tracks. Others set off fire extinguishers on the platforms. A Belga reporter watched police respond there that morning.

Clashes near Central Station as Brussels education protest turns violent https://t.co/ezSlGvsgQl#Belga #Brussels #Education #Protest

— Belga News Agency_English (@Belga_English) June 4, 2026

The unrest grew out of a cost-cutting package the FWB government wants to push through. The plan raises annual higher-education tuition to 1,194 euros from 835 euros, a 35% jump. It also forces teachers in the upper secondary grades to take on two more classroom hours each week with no extra pay, Reuters reported.

Critics question how the measures are being pushed through. The French Community government moved to put the package to a fast-track vote Thursday even though the Francophone parliament’s budget committee had not signed off on it, VRT NWS reported. The Ecolo greens and the Communist PTB refused to back the rapporteur, and opponents called the vote undemocratic. The plan aims to save 300 million euros across the sector. Under it, new teachers hired from September 2027 would lose permanent-appointment status and work on contracts instead.