A national strike is expected in Belgium tomorrow against the economic policy of the new federal government, local media reported, BTA reports.
Air traffic controllers are also expected to join the protest, which will lead to the closure of the airspace. For this reason, regular flights to and from Belgium will not be operated tomorrow, and planes flying over the country at an altitude of more than 7,500 meters will be serviced by dispatchers in neighboring countries.
Work will also be suspended in other key sectors - state post offices, public transport, municipal and state schools. For the first time, military personnel are expected to participate in such an event, who are among those most directly affected by the government's plans to increase the retirement age and reduce social spending.
The new Belgian government took office in early February, but even before that, the country's unions organized several protests against the proposed economic reforms. In January, a similar protest in Brussels gathered 30,000 participants, and the unions warned that they could continue with strikes on the 13th of every month.
Negotiations to form the new government took seven months, and the agreements reached in the ruling coalition envisage cutting budget spending by 23 billion euros over the next five years. Among the government's first steps were the abandonment of intentions to close nuclear power plants and increasing military spending, with the aim of achieving NATO's requirement of 2% of GDP by 2029.