Brussels Riots Raise Questions Over Alleged Antifa Involvement

The student protests that have swept France have now spread into neighbouring Belgium, where demonstrations were quickly marred by violence and the involvement of far-left extremist groups.

A total of 110 people were arrested in Brussels on Friday after a day of disorder disrupted public transport and flights, damaged buildings and saw several vehicles set alight. Police engaged in running battles with groups described as intent on violence.

Friday’s unrest combined a local expression of the student protests that have shaken France for weeks with strikes and demonstrations organised by trade unions in Brussels. When the two groups converged near Brussels Central station, they were joined by hooded individuals, including black-bloc Antifa activists, according to reports. The gathering, initially directed at the government of centre-right Prime Minister Bart De Wever, soon descended into riots.

Violent groups clashed with police around the station, vandalising vehicles and starting fires. Several buses were destroyed, while stacks of city rental e-bikes were used to build bonfires that burned intensely because of their lithium batteries. The rental company reportedly lost as many bikes in a single day as it normally would over an entire year.

Opposition to the De Wever government has continued since he took office last year. His administration is seeking to reduce Belgium’s budget deficit and address public debt equivalent to roughly 110 per cent of GDP. The latest damage at Brussels Central was particularly notable: bus stops destroyed by rioters on Friday had only recently been restored following an earlier wave of anti-government unrest.

After clearing the area around the railway station, riot police spent much of the afternoon pursuing highly mobile groups across Brussels. Officers described the operation as a large-scale game of cat and mouse, with fresh outbreaks appearing in different neighbourhoods.

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Police said the violence was separate from the student protests and that the demonstrations had been hijacked. Government minister Bernard Quintin told the Belgian parliament earlier in the week that security services had warned him Antifa activists were infiltrating the student movement and encouraging violence. He referred to “adults who take it upon themselves to manipulate children to convey political messages in a violent way” as part of what he called an “Antifa-like movement”.

The Brussels unrest also featured foreign flags, including those of Palestine and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This echoed developments in France, where critics say student protests were taken over by hard-left groups and became linked to wider ethnic and migration-related grievances. U.S. President Donald Trump described the French unrest as a manifestation of “out of control mass migration” and aggressive Islamism.

Brussels was not the only Belgian city to experience unrest in recent days. Far-left Antifa groups have been active in Liège for around two weeks and have likewise been accused of infiltrating student demonstrations. The government has also alleged that non-student outsiders travelled to the city to intensify the disorder. On Wednesday, police arrested 50 people after officers were pelted with cobblestones and fires were started.

In Antwerp on Friday, veteran right-wing nationalist lawmaker Filip Dewinter said he had been assaulted by a group of Moroccan men after they recognised him while he was walking to the town hall. Dewinter told police about the incident and claimed that the Moroccan community felt “all-powerful”, describing Antwerp as an “occupied and Islamized city”. He also said aggression and violence were being used to intimidate those who disagreed with them.