Belgium’s National Crisis Centre opened 54 new case files in the first six months of this year for people threatened while carrying out their jobs, according to De Zondag.
Those affected can include politicians, police officers, civil servants and magistrates.
The number of new cases was higher than in the first half of 2025, when 46 files were opened involving 59 people.
Yves Stevens of the National Crisis Centre told the newspaper that one reason may be that threatening situations are being reported and followed up more quickly.
He added that, over the past five years, organised crime has had a growing impact on the number of cases. Successful interventions targeting several key figures in criminal circles have also led to tensions and intimidation, he said.
The centre currently has 139 active case files involving a total of 193 threatened people, according to Stevens.
In the first half of 2026, the 54 new files involved 81 people. In nine of those cases, the threat was no longer considered current and the file was closed after a few weeks.
Protective measures are decided on the basis of assessments by the federal police and OCAD, Belgium’s threat analysis body.
These measures can include advice, permanent contact with local police, or regular patrols around a person’s home.
