Dozens gathered for an anti-Trump demonstration in front of the Brussels-Central station on Wednesday, calling for the defence of democratic values in the United States.

Spokesperson for Democrats Abroad Belgium Robin de Wouters said “we really want to protest the Trump administration’s attack on our constitutional values and American values.”

De Wouters added that the American population has entrusted the US president after a democratically held vote, but stresses the importance of representing all of its citizens, “and that’s not by alienating a vast majority of Americans.”

“He has to respect the rule of law. He has to respect the decisions of the court. He has to respect due process in Congress. And he cannot assert himself as an autocrat,” he concluded.

The demonstration happened on the sidelines of newly appointed US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth’s visit to Belgium.

Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, Hegseth said that Ukraine’s desired return to its pre-2014 borders as well as NATO membership are “unrealistic” goals that should be excluded from any future peace settlement. He also underlined that US troops would not be a part of any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.

The meeting came a day before defence ministers are set to meet in the Belgian capital to prepare for the NATO Summit that will be held in The Hague in June.

“It is important that we send a strong message that we are a strong NATO member, that we will abide by the treaty, and that we are not going to undermine NATO,” former chair of Democrats Abroad Belgium Pauline Manos told Euronews at the rally.

“This cannot happen again,” she added, referring to Trump’s policy during his first term at the White House in 2016. “We will stand with Europe.”