At least 100 squatters are currently occupying a vacant office building, formerly used by the European Commission, on Rue de Genève in the Brussels municipality of Evere.
The building in question is the former Directorate-General for Translators of the European Commission. The squat has been confirmed to Bruzz by the local Brussels-North police zone and by Mayor Alessandro Zappala (PS).
The building is owned by a foreign company that rented it to the European Commission until last year. The translators were there for almost 20 years but have since moved to a building on Place Rogier. Since then, the building in Evere has been vacant.
However, at the start of November, a first group of squatters moved into the building, the outlet reports. Despite having foreign license plates ranging from France to Poland, they come from Moldova, confirmed Evere mayor Zappala on Sunday evening.
Families
Residents reported seeing cars with Polish and Hungarian license plates unloading mattresses and bags and going inside the building, La Capitale reported last week. Two days later, larger vans arrived with furniture, televisions, and curtains.
The Brussels-North police zone initially confirmed that "250 to 300 people" were present in the building, but Zappala visited the scene with the same police services on Sunday and says that the number is closer to 100 to 150 – most of whom are families with women, teenagers, and young children.
"Apparently, they were already staying in several squats in Brussels and have grouped together here," he told Bruzz.
Zappala emphasised that the municipality is investigating all concerns and complaints from residents (so far, these have mainly been shared online), but added that no nuisance has yet been confirmed in the neighbourhood.
The police department has initiated proceedings between the municipality and the building's owner to discuss an eviction.
