In the sparse crowd, music is heard.
A few demonstrators dance to electronic music.
Then the steps give way to songs, as the procession advances in the streets of Brussels.
"No vaccines for our children," chanted a group of women.
This Sunday, about 8,000 people according to the police have closed ranks and shouted in chorus their opposition to health restrictions in the Belgian capital.
Faced with the upsurge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Belgium, the government has notably imposed the health pass at the entrance to certain places open to the public.
"Vaccines no thank you", "Covid = organized genocide", "QR = swastika", could we read on the signs of this "Act 2, March for freedom", second meeting that opponents to measures and vaccines were given, after the one organized on November 21.
They were then much more numerous, 35,000 according to the official count.
Clashes, at the end of the afternoon
Once the afternoon started and the route completed, the police quickly tried to disrupt the gathering.
Some of the demonstrators threw cans, firecrackers and fireworks in their direction. The police responded with water cannons and tear gas.
During "Act 1" riots broke out.
So for Act 2, riot police units with shields and helmets were deployed around the European quarter which houses the EU institutions.
Several roads were blocked with fences and barbed wire.
In addition to the water cannons stationed in town, a helicopter and drones flew over the area.
Far-right activists had been spotted in number in the procession, as well as Flemish nationalist flags.
In Belgium, as in several European countries, the radical opposition parties are trying to recover the discontent of a part of the population, affected by the measures against the Covid-19.
Several European cities have thus experienced similar mobilizations, notably in the Netherlands and Austria, while governments have increased the constraints in recent weeks.
As for Belgium, beyond the imposition of the health pass, the government has decided to close kindergartens and primary schools, a week in advance, to fight against the surge in Covid-19 cases.
