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Tens of thousands protest in Brussels against the new center-right government's austerity policies, Associated Press (AP) reported, according to RIA Novosti.

The protests started after the Belgian government stated that it would carry out austerity measures to keep the budget deficit constraints.

About 100,000 demonstrators have flooded the streets of Brussels, AP said.

Protesters held banners and burned flares as they walked down the streets of Brussels, disrupting trains and buses throughout the capital of the European Union (EU), AFP said.

The austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Charles Michel would include the pension age extension, wage freeze, cut of public services, decrease in funding of civil service, culture and research, Deutsche Welle said.

Labor unions and left-wing organizations blame the government for targeting the general population, while favoring big businesses. The reforms are expected to save 11 billion euros ($13.8 billion), Deutsche Welle reported.

Today’s protests open a month-long campaign against the free-market liberal coalition led by Michel's party Reformist Movement (MR). Several other protests are expected to take place in Belgium over the next weeks.

The campaign will culminate with a nationwide strike on December 15, AP said.