The police have taken in a man with a knife after attempting to enter the Prime Minister's residency on Monday morning.
The armed man attempted to enter the Prime Minister's residency on 16 Rue de la Loi at around 10:00 on Monday. Military police who guard the building subdued him and no one was injured.
"We can confirm that a man was arrested," the police reported. "The man was said to be armed with a knife and to have made threats towards the military personnel present. They overpowered the man while waiting for our police zone, which is responsible for further investigation. The man's motives are currently unclear."
Barend Leyts, the communication director for outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD), confirmed the incident to Belga News Agency.
"The individual was taken to the police station," he said. "The military police were not injured during the intervention."
Alexander De Croo said he was "shocked by the incident" via Leyts. "We would like to express our sincere thanks to the military police officers. We are closely monitoring the situation together with the police," he said. "We are relieved that no one was injured in the incident."
A reporting team for VTM News had been filming at Rue de la Loi in the context of ongoing Federal Government negotiations. They were moved from the site due to a threat.
"We were told it wasn't an exercise," a reporter told Bruzz.
