Police confront protesters in Brussels and Liège as demonstrations spread across Europe

Police in Belgium deployed water cannons and tear-gas to disperse demonstrators in Brussels and Liège on Saturday, as a series of cost-of-living protests escalated into violence. In Brussels, officers fired tear-gas at youths throwing bottles and other projectiles in the Bourse district, while water cannons were used against smaller groups in Liège, according to an AFP journalist.

"It is pure and simple violence, organised and repeated with the aim of destabilising our society," Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said in a social-media post, adding that all necessary measures would be taken to restore order.

The unrest follows weeks of demonstrations by Belgian high-school students over rising education costs, alongside French student protests against teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms. In Paris, a Euronews crew was attacked near the Place de la République while covering the protests. Correspondent Estelle Nilsson-Julien described how masked individuals assaulted a cameraman and attempted to seize equipment, though the journalist was not seriously injured. A separate march on the Boulevard de Clichy remained peaceful, but tensions rose as more participants gathered.