Belgium's federal police are already starting checks in the country's border regions to check if (foreign) drivers are complying with the coronavirus measures.
The checks will take place on access roads in the provinces of Limburg, Antwerp and East-Flanders, and have to dissuade internationals from coming to Belgium to shop.
"The controls will focus on checking if people have an essential reason to cross the border, and monitoring if they are following the Belgian measures," a federal police spokesperson told The Brussels Times.
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During the press conference following the Consultative Committee on Friday evening, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced that non-residents would also need to show a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test before they were allowed to enter the territory.
"Controls on that negative Covid-19 test will only start when the measure actually takes effect, which will not be until 25 December," the spokesperson added.
In recent days, De Croo, Dutch Minister-President Mark Rutte and Minister-President of the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia Armin Laschet called on their respective citizens to stay in their home country and not cross the border into Belgium to go shopping, now that non-essential stores are closed in the Netherlands and Germany.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
