Belgians Join Protests Over Rising Fuel Costs
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BRUSSELS — Belgian truck drivers protesting rising fuel prices threatened Sunday to blockade Brussels through the night after accusing Finance Minister Didier Reynders of making an “incendiary statement.”
Reynders’ spokesman Pierre Jeholet said the truckers had misunderstood the remarks on television.
As many as 2,500 trucks, buses and taxis converged on Brussels on Sunday, part of a wave of protests across Europe against fuel prices.
Protesters originally said their demonstration would end at 3 p.m. But four hours later, about 300 truckers continued to tie up traffic, insisting that they would not leave until granted a meeting with Reynders or Transport Minister Isabelle Durant.
Pierre Darchabeau, representing the Professional Union for Road Transport, accused Reynders of saying in an interview that “he wouldn’t do anything for the truckers.”
Jeholet said the minister had proposed reimbursement based on fuel bills.
The Belgian protest was launched just as a six-day blockade of French oil refineries and storage depots came to an end.
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