BRUSSELS (Dispatches) -- Around 70,000 Belgian workers marched through Brussels on Monday demanding government action to tackle sharply rising living costs, as one-day strikes at Brussels Airport and on local transport networks nationwide brought public travel to a near-halt.
Protesters carried flags and banners reading “More respect, higher wages” and “End excise duty”, while some set off flares. Some demanded the government do more, others said employers needed to improve pay and working conditions.
Unions said about 80,000 were present. Police put the figure at 70,000.
Brussels Airport said it could not allow passenger flights to depart because the industrial action extended to security personnel, and most arrivals were also cancelled.
Local public transport operators were running skeleton services, though some train lines were operating, partly to allow protesters to converge on the capital.
Belgian inflation hit 9% in June, mirroring sharp rises elsewhere driven primarily by the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on supply chains and energy and commodity prices.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Belgian workers were better protected than counterparts in most other European Union countries because wages were indexed to inflation.
He told public broadcaster RTBF the government had extended sales tax breaks on gas, electricity and fuel until the end of the year.
Further travel disruption is expected later this week, with pilots and cabin crew of Brussels Airlines planning a June 23-25 strike over working conditions and their Ryanair counterparts in Belgium set for three days of action from Friday.
In recent months, economic problems faced by European have repeatedly hit the headlines, amid surging inflation and runaway prices of commodities ranging from gas, cars to food.
According to a report by CNBC, German inflation hit 8.7 percent in May, significantly outstripping analyst expectations of 8 percent. French inflation also surpassed expectations in May to a notch record 5.8 percent, up from 5.4 percent in April, while Spanish consumer prices jumped by an annual 8.5 percent in May, exceeding expectations of 8.1 percent.
One driver behind rising prices is energy price inflation, as supplies from Russia dwindle amid the Ukraine conflicts.
The confrontation is now placing Europe on a very dangerous situation of an energy crisis, as the EU normally imports about 40 percent of its total gas consumption from Russia.
Experts say the tense relations between Europe and Russia are aggravated by U.S. instigation. U.S. pressures on its European allies to pile on sanctions against Russia, and its far-fetched promises to help Europe reduce reliance on Russian energy supplies, are increasingly dragging Europe into an energy crisis and economic distress.
This accelerates divisions among EU members and hurts the EU’s strategic autonomy as members are taking different attitudes toward sanctions on Russia.
Many Europe countries are already on the verge of economic chaos, with inflation skyrocketing, social instability uprising and many people losing their jobs.
Nevertheless, an even bigger risk is looming over the continent, as Europe is drifting away from its strategy of being independent, with its industrial competiveness being at risk of falling behind if it relies too much on the U.S. for products and technologies, economists said.
“The Europe is an important victim of the Ukraine crisis,” Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.
In Britain, the biggest rail strikes in three decades were due to start on Monday night, with trains cancelled across Great Britain for much of the week.
The first of three 24-hour walkouts by 40,000 RMT members, including signalers, maintenance and train staff, will start just after midnight on Tuesday morning, with only one in five trains running on strike days and halting services altogether in much of northern and south-west England, Wales and Scotland.
The strikes, over pay and attempts to reform the rail industry with post-COVID work patterns hitting commuter revenues, will cause six days of disruption, with trains limited to one an hour between 7.30am and 6.30pm on major intercity and urban routes. Services will start later and be reduced on subsequent days.
The action is being taken by Network Rail employees and onboard and station staff working for 13 train operators in England. The RMT said thousands of jobs were at risk in maintenance roles and that ticket office closures were planned, on top of pay freezes during a time of high inflation.
Nearly a third of people say they feel more depressed about the rising cost of living than they did six months ago, a Sky News poll revealed Monday.
Over 60% of people told the broadcaster they felt more worried than they did six months ago, with nearly a third telling us they were angrier.
Millions of Britons are now struggling as prices soar, made worse by rising energy costs and record inflation.
And with the average cost of a full tank of petrol exceeding £100 for the first time and food bills increasing, many are facing an agonizing decision on whether to pay for fuel to heat their homes or buy food to feed their families.
In a poll that suggests the crisis could be having a serious impact on some people’s mental health, nearly a third told Sky News they feel more depressed now.