Students Rise Against Education Cuts in Belgium

Featured image: Liege, Belgium, October 7, 2026. Source: Reuters

Entering their fourth week, Belgian student protests over education costs and school conditions have spread from Liège to Brussels.

In early October, students in Liège protested higher costs, crowded classrooms, and difficulty obtaining study materials. Tuition fees for most students in Belgium’s French-speaking community have risen from €835 to €1,194. Some of the demonstrators stated they had been encouraged by the protests in France. In the days surrounding the protests, over 100 arrests were made.

The student opposition to the cost of education has developed alongside broader anger over cuts. On October 9, a separate national strike and anti-austerity march brought around 30,000 people to Brussels, joining the student struggles and workers struggles. Youth clashed with the police on the sidelines, and officers used tear gas and water cannons.

Secours Rouge writes that, following the demonstrations in Brussels and Liège, the Belgian authorities are using legal and digital measures as an offensive against activism, including invoking the DSA.

There has been multiple combative demonstrations in Belgium lately and a worry is reflected in the statement from the mayor of Brussels Philippe Close: “Up to 1,200 demonstrations take place in Brussels every year […] An increasing number of organizers are failing to follow the procedure and no longer submit an application for a demonstration permit. They are also more frequently refusing to engage in dialogue with the police.”