BRUSSELS
Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel was attacked by a small group of activists, who squirted mayonnaise and later threw fries at him Monday.
Michel, 39, is the youngest prime minister in Belgium’s history. He was about to speak at a private conference in Namur, the southern Wallonia region of Belgium, when he was interrupted by three activists yelling: ''Out with austerity, Michel get out!''
The activist group ''LilithS'' said in a statement on Facebook: ''We will not tolerate your budgetary cuts, your immigration policies, your criminalization of poverty, your surveillance society! We will attack the truly gangrenous elements in our society: real estate speculation, market deregulation, fiscal evasion.''
On Dec.15, Belgium was paralyzed by a nationwide general strike against the new center-right government’s plans to extend the retirement age, cut healthcare spending and delay the indexation of wages in relation to prices.
About 100,000 workers took to the streets of Brussels on Nov. 6 to protest against the government’s austerity measures and pledges to cut corporation tax from 33 percent to 25 percent.
The linguistically divided country – split between French, Dutch and German speakers – is facing a slow-moving economy, which is expected to grow little more than one percent this year.
Fries and mayonnaise is a traditional dish in Belgium.
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