"Brussels society is dislocated," said Eric Vandezande, the spokesperson of forty neighbourhood committees on Thursday morning, in reaction to the several shootings in Brussels this week.
He believes the upcoming Canal Plan from the Federal Government is not a comprehensive solution to the drug violence in the capital. "In Brussels, thousands of people choose to waste their lives on drugs like crack. We need to ask ourselves why."
The forty Brussels neighbourhood committees have long been gravely concerned about the escalating drug violence in the city. Vandezande believes that drugs and the accompanying violence can thrive in Brussels as a result of "an increasingly colder society."
"Brussels has grown noticeably colder. People care less for each other; there are tens of thousands of homeless people and hundreds of thousands without papers, excluded from a normal life."
Since last year, the drug-related violence in Brussels appears to be spiralling further out of control. In 2024, there were a total of 89 shootings in the Brussels-Capital Region, many linked to the drug war. In 2023, 43 shootings were recorded in Brussels.
Closed off Clemenceau metro station, which is closed off after a shooting this morning, Wednesday 05 February 2025 in Cureghem. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
According to Vandezande, deeper issues need to be addressed. "The Canal Plan targets the visible part of the iceberg. But an iceberg can also grow from below, and that mainly depends on the temperature of the water in which it floats."
Vandezande argues that the Federal Government’s plans to launch a new Canal Plan will not be sufficient to completely resolve the problem. After the March 2016 attacks, there was already an action plan against radicalisation, violent extremism, and terrorism. "That plan focuses solely on more police and better justice," he said.
On Wednesday, Vandezande called out regional authorities in Brussels for having failed to act, saying this is not just an issue in Anderlecht, but a problem in the entire Brussels-Capital Region. He blames the outgoing Regional Government. "Since we sounded the alarm in 2023, the Region has done very little to combat drug trafficking and violence."
"People are being driven towards drugs in Brussels. How do we solve that? That question is not being asked. Too many people are falling by the wayside," he said. "The Brussels problem is essentially social in nature."
'General mobilisation'
Anderlecht Mayor Fabrice Cumps (PS) called for a "general mobilisation" following Thursday morning's shooting at Clemenceau metro station in Anderlecht.
"The time has come for a general mobilisation," said Didier Noltincx, the mayor's chief of staff. "Our police services, which have of course been reinforced in recent days, are ready to protect the public and are working daily with the federal police to restore safety in our neighbourhoods."
Noltincx highlighted that 2,000 arrests were made in Anderlecht last year as part of the fight against drug trafficking, and that the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office is working hard to tackle the drug trade structurally. He also stressed the importance of prevention efforts, noting the work done by associations and medical services with users.
