MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) — The large-scale protest in Belgium is efficient as it has brought together both the Dutch and French speaking parts of the country's population, the leader of the Green party in the Brussels parliament Zoe Genot, who participated in the demonstration, told RIA Novosti Thursday.
According to various reports, between 100,000 and 150,000 people participated in the protest in the Belgium capital. The people marched against the new government's proposed reforms and cost-cutting measures.
"There were 150,000 people and that was a very huge demonstration for Belgium. And what is important for Belgium is that there were French speaking people and also Dutch speaking people, and from all the country," Genot said, adding such a large-scale demonstrations are quite unusual for Belgium.
"The new government is very conservative and has proposed a lot of bad ideas over pensions, over old people, for the unemployed," Genot said, adding that the situation will be even worse, as even in employment will earn less money.
"If we didn't have so many people onside, that would be a problem, but with so many people and with people from both sides of the frontier – French speaking and Dutch speaking, it will have an effect. It is not only the French speakers who are concerned about the new options, but the Dutch-speaking Christian Democrats are going to be in an uncomfortable position, and I hope they will try to change their position," Genot told RIA Novosti.
The austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Charles Michel include increase of the pension age, wage freezes, and decrease in funding for the civil service, culture and research programs.
