Protesters prepare to take protest against health passport to Brussels - ISTOÉ DINHEIRO

Protesters protest against the health passport in Vimy, northern France, on February 13, 2022 – AFP

Hundreds of vehicles participating in the convoys against the health passport are preparing to head to Brussels this Monday (14), as part of a European protest, after a first attempt in Paris.

Nearly 1,300 vehicles, according to police, made a stopover on Sunday near Lille, close to the Belgian border.

At the sound of horns in a parking lot 10 km from the city in northern France, participants shouted phrases such as “we give nothing” and “freedom, freedom” during the night, while displaying French flags.

“We are going to Brussels to try to block, to fight against this policy of permanent control,” Jean-Pierre Schmit, a 58-year-old unemployed Frenchman who protested in Paris on Saturday, told AFP.

Belgian authorities banned any demonstration in the capital “with motor vehicles” and announced measures “to prevent the blockade of the Brussels region”.

Brussels Mayor Philippe Close announced that 30 vehicles were blocked on Monday as they tried to head into the city.

Police have released statements on social media – in French, Dutch, German and English – that highlight the ban on vehicle protests and recommend that protesters not drive to Brussels. The trains must be directed to an exhibition center parking lot on the outskirts of the city.

Participants in a similar protest in The Hague also announced their intention to head to Belgium.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo suggested on Friday that protesters should give up traveling to Brussels and recommended that they “protest in their countries”.

Controls have been set up at the border and vehicles heading to the capital despite the ban will be diverted, Belgian authorities warned.

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