Hundreds join yellow vest rallies in Belgium, Netherlands

Hundreds of yellow-vested protesters calling for the resignation of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel marched on the European quarter of Brussels Saturday, as the movement that started in France made its mark in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Police used pepper spray and scuffled with a small group of protesters who tried to break through their barricade blocking access to the European Parliament and the European Union's other main institutions.

The rallies, which started at different locations around the city and converged on the European quarter, have disrupted road and rail traffic on one of the busiest Christmas shopping days of the year.

Police spray protestors with pepper spray during a demonstration in Brussels, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. Hundreds of police officers are being mobilized in Brussels Saturday, where yellow vest protesters last week clashed with police and torched two police vehicles. More than 70 people were detained. (AP PhotoFrancisco Seco)

Walking behind a banner reading "social winter is coming," the protesters chanted "(French President Emmanuel) Macron, Michel resign."

Dozens of people were searched at stations and police have warned people to stay away from the area.

Hundreds of police officers have been being mobilized in Brussels. Last week, yellow vest protesters last week clashed with police and torched two police vehicles. More than 70 people were detained

Police detain protestors in the European Quarter during a demonstration in Brussels, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. Hundreds of police officers are being mobilized in Brussels Saturday, where yellow vest protesters last week clashed with police and torched two police vehicles. More than 70 people were detained. (AP PhotoGeert Vanden Wijngaert)

In the Dutch city of Rotterdam, a few hundred protesters in the high visibility vests that have become a symbol of the movement walked peacefully across the downtown Erasmus Bridge singing a song about the Netherlands and handing flowers to passers-by.

Sisters Beb and Ieneke Lambermont, aged 76 and 67 respectively, were among them.

"Our children are hard-working people but they have to pay taxes everywhere. You can't get housing anymore. It is not going well in Dutch society," Ieneke said. "The social welfare net we grew up with is gone," she said.

Several hundred demonstrators in yellow vests march during a peaceful demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. The French yellow vest protest movement is crossing borders, with demonstrations planned in neighboring Belgium and in the Netherlands. Neither country has proposed a hike in fuel tax, the catalyst for the massive and destructive demonstrations in France in recent weeks. (AP PhotoPeter Dejong)

"The government is not there for the people. It is there to protect its own interests," she said.

Neither Belgium nor the Netherlands has proposed a hike in fuel tax — the catalyst for the massive and destructive demonstrations in France in recent weeks.

Instead, protesters Saturday appeared to hail at least in part from a populist movement that is angry at government policy in general and what it sees as the widening gulf between mainstream politicians and the voters who put them in power.

Several hundred demonstrators in yellow vests march during a peaceful demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. The French yellow vest protest movement is crossing borders, with demonstrations planned in neighboring Belgium and in the Netherlands. Neither country has proposed a hike in fuel tax, the catalyst for the massive and destructive demonstrations in France in recent weeks. (AP PhotoPeter Dejong)

Dutch police keeps a distance as several hundred demonstrators in yellow vests march during a peaceful demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. The French yellow vest protest movement is crossing borders, with demonstrations planned in neighboring Belgium and in the Netherlands. Neither country has proposed a hike in fuel tax, the catalyst for the massive and destructive demonstrations in France in recent weeks. (AP PhotoPeter Dejong)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed satisfaction on Monday after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.

Candidates from his pro-European Union centrist Civic Coalition, or running with the party's backing, won in a series of cities in the second round of local elections held on Sunday, among them Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Rzeszow.

“It is very difficult to clearly say who won and who lost,” Tusk said Monday. “But if we compare these results, especially in the most attractive places, on these attractive battlefields ... then I actually have reasons for satisfaction.”

“Law and Justice has simply disappeared in many places,” Tusk added at a news conference, referring to the main opposition party.

The results put Civic Coalition in a favorable position as the country looks next to elections to the European Parliament on June 9.

Mayors were chosen in a total of 748 cities and towns where no single candidate won at least 50% of the vote during the first round on April 7.

Candidates for Tusk’s party also recaptured cities where they had not held power for many years, including Zielona Gora, Legnica and Torun.

The local and regional elections were viewed as a test for Tusk's pro-European Union government four months after it took power at the national level. Sunday's second round strengthened the Tusk government's leverage in the cities, which should facilitate cooperation on development projects and allotment of EU funds.

Tusk's allies also won in some places in the first round two weeks ago, including in Warsaw, where incumbent Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was an easy victor.

In the first round, the right-wing Law and Justice, prevailed on the level of regional assemblies in the country's 16 provinces, where it took 34.3% of the votes, while Tusk's Civic Coalition got 30.6%. Law and Justice governed on the national level from 2015-23.

Tusk’s socially liberal Civic Coalition traditionally has strong support in cities, while Law and Justice has a more solid base in conservative rural areas, particularly in eastern Poland.

Civic Coalition is the largest group in a three-party coalition that governs the EU nation of 38 million people. The coalition is pro-European Union but otherwise spans a wide ideological spectrum with left-wing politicians in the Left party as well as conservatives in the Third Way.

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Campaign posters promote candidates as Poles vote in local and regional elections in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacts during his and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with students in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk listens to the media in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 15, 2024. Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)