French Covid convoy heading for banned Brussels protest rally

Hundreds of cars, campervans and trucks taking part in protest convoy against Covid regulations were gathering near Brussels on Monday where Belgian officials have already banned a demonstration following a failed weekend protest in Paris.

Pärt of the protest convoy outside Brussels. AP - Olivier Matthys

An estimated 1,300 vehicles from across France had arrived near the French border city of Lille by late Sunday, according to police.

Camped at a parking lot near Lille, protesters brandished French flags and chanted "We won't give up" and "Freedom, freedom."

"We'll go to Brussels to try to block it, to fight against this policy of permanent control," said Jean-Pierre Schmit, an unemployed 58-year-old who came from Toulouse.

One protestor said the government's response to the Covid crisis had revealed that "we're losing our freedoms bit by bit, in an insidious way."

The latest self-proclaimed "freedom convoy" comes after 97 people were arrested at the weekend in Paris where thousands of demonstrators defied a ban on attempting to blockade the French capital.

In France, the demonstrators are angry at the vaccine pass which is required by all who wish to enter restaurants and cafes, implemented as part of President Emmanuel Macron's inoculation drive.

Convoy heading from The Hague

 Belgian authorities have banned all demonstrations in the capital involving "motorised vehicles" and said they had taken measures to prevent the blocking of the Brussels region.

Brussels police have issued a social media warning that vehicle protests are banned and advising against travelling to the capital by car, channelling convoys to a parking lot on the outskirts of the city as the only place where a static protest will be tolerated.

Some participants in a similar demonstration organised in The Hague have also announced their intention of going to Belgium.

Checks are planned at the border and vehicles coming to the capital despite the ban will be diverted, Belgian authorities warned.