Brussels prevents the ‘Freedom Caravan’ from blocking its accesses

The Belgian authorities have deployed this Monday about a thousand police officers and installed control barriers at access to Brussels to shield the European capital against the announced arrival of the ‘Freedom Caravan’, a march with vehicles arriving from France to protest due to sanitary measures and restrictions against the coronavirus.

The Police have concluded the mobilization after 4:00 p.m., when they have raised the barriers and reopened traffic, after a day no serious incident during which several dozen vehicles have been immobilized on their way to Brussels and various bladed weapons have been seized.

Although the authorities have taken all measures to prevent the entry of road traffic to participate in the protest, they have allowed the protesters to reach on foot or public transport to the center of the city to express their demands.

This has allowed several dozen people to come to the European quarter to show their rejection of the restrictions near the institutions that represent the EU and other small groups to gather in different squares in the city center, always under police surveillance. has prevented access to very crowded or tourist areas.

Fifty trucks, caravans and cars have been parked in a fairground in Heyselon the outskirts of the city, and another half a thousand vehicles have been parked in the vicinity of Leuven.

The Mayor of Brussels, Philippe Closehas recalled in interventions in different media that it is necessary to request authorization to be able to call a demonstration in the city, something that has not happened with the so-called ‘Freedom Caravan’, of which he has regretted that there is no “petition or interlocutor” with whom to discuss the situation.

During the first hours, Close warned that federal, regional and local authorities had worked in a coordinated manner to prevent the protest from taking “the city hostage”, and pointed out that the number of vehicles that have crossed the border from France is less than expected.