Over 95% of new Belgian citizens in Brussels asked for a French rather than a Dutch ID card last year.
This is according to a written response from Home Affairs Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) addressed to Barbara Pas, a Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang MP.
Less than 5% asked for a Dutch-language ID card, which Pas says is proof of the "frenchification" of Brussels.
The number of people who received Belgian citizenship in Brussels has risen steadily in recent years: 8,799 in 2021, 11,393 in 2022 and 13,758 in 2023.
A small proportion of each cohort has requested for a Dutch ID card each year: 341 in 2021, 405 in 2022 and 487 in 2023.
The number of people who were granted Belgian nationality peaked in 2023, partly due to the 'Fast Belgian' law passed in 2001. The amendment aimed to make the citizenship process easier by reducing integration requirements. An influx of asylum applications are also thought to have contributed to these figures.
Legislation has since become tougher again after the Fast Belgian law. In Flanders, non-EU citizens are obliged to take integration and language courses.
