There were rising tensions in Portugal on Thursday as several thousand security guards and police officers protested against anti-austerity measures in the 2014 budget.
Demonstrators eventually broke through barriers and ran up the stairs to the parliament building guarded by their colleagues on-duty.
It’s the first joint protest with security and police officers voicing their opposition to cuts in their budgets and wages.
One police officer, who travelled from Azores said: “I am here today because the minister has been tricking us constantly. Says he’s going to do things one way and then does them another way. He has penalised us greatly.”
A local police officer from Lisbon explained: “what we want from this protest is to bring attention to the living conditions of the police in Portugal. We are on the verge of indignity. We have almost nothing. No motivation, no working conditions, remuneration is falling more and more. The police is here to protect citizens.”
The government want to cut police budgets by 66 million euros, that’s nine percent, in the coming year.
The final vote of the 2014 budget is on Tuesday. More protests are expected then.
