Goeiemiddag iedereen, bonjour à toutes et à tous!
To start the week right, we have an interview with Belgium's Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (MR).
Speaking to regular contributor Dominique Soenens, Quintin gave some more details about his plans to deploy joint patrols of police officers and soldiers in Brussels neighbourhoods affected by drug-related violence.
The proposal is a politically complex one for plenty of reasons, but Quintin said that he has the support of Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA).
Over the past year and a half, 150 shootings and 22 explosions in the capital. What's more, shots were fired at a police station in Anderlecht over the summer. While Quintin describes this as "worrying", he also sees it as a sign that the authorities' approach is working. More on that here.
Another story dominating the news is that of a teacher in the province of East Flanders, who was fired after she refused to remove her headscarf at work.
The teacher, Hadija Amajoud has worked in provincial education since September 2022, was never evaluated negatively, and received a permanent appointment on 1 January 2024.
She was already wearing her headscarf when she started work at the school, but the province amended its staff regulations in June 2024. She is believed to be the first teacher in Flanders to be explicitly fired for wearing a headscarf. Read more here.
Now that the summer weather has fully deserted us and we have all settled back into the swing of office life, I think many people will agree with the statement that they are sitting too much.
Regular contributor Kristina Chetcuti, a registered health coach, answers your questions about sitting time, standing desks and how to move more during the working days. Having you tried sitting on the floor yet? Maybe you should.
I also wanted to highlight two great articles you might have missed over the weekend.
The first one is by our magazine editor Leo Cendrowicz, who looked into the history of Brussels' metro network, now that it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
I highly recommend reading his fascinating article about the underground's extraordinary engineering, bold architecture and ambitious expansion – but also disruption, tragedy and one conspicuously unfinished line. More here.
And before I let you go, I also wanted to highlight that last weekend signalled the end of one of the most talked-about article series on The Brussels Times: the dating-in-Brussels series by our very own Carrie Bradshaw, Features Editor Isabella Vivian.
As she is moving on from The Brussels Times, she left us with one last column about her experiences of dating in the Belgian capital. Perhaps, she says, romance isn't dead, but our approach to it is. Read Isabella's farewell here.
If you have any comments, tips or suggestions to improve our coverage, drop me an email at m.chini@brusselstimes.com.
Ciao for now!
Belgium in Brief is a free daily roundup of the top stories to get you through your coffee break conversations. To receive it straight to your inbox every day, sign up below:
1. Interior Minister wants to expand army patrols to Brussels’ drugs hotspots
"As far as I know, this is the first time there has been an attack on a police station," says Quintin. "That’s worrying, but I see it as a sign that our approach is working." Read more.
2. Flemish teacher fired for refusing to remove headscarf
East Flanders province has dismissed teacher Hadija Amajoud after she refused to remove her headscarf at work, in what is believed to be the first case in Flanders of a teacher being explicitly sacked for wearing one. Read more.
3. Two women dead after incident in Anderlecht
Two women were found dead on Sunday in Avenue de la Poésie in Anderlecht, and prosecutors are treating the deaths as suspicious. Read more.
4. Religious signals can disadvantage Belgian job candidates, study finds
Recruiters expected colleagues to be less willing to work with candidates whose religious identity – regardless of faith – was apparent. Read more.
5. Landscape and infrastructure: How prepared is Belgium for future wildfires?
The natural disaster in the Hautes Fagnes might have come a surprise for many, given Belgium’s history with wildfires – or the lack thereof. Read more.
6. Property tax rises in 56 Belgian municipalities in 2026
Homeowners across Belgium are facing higher property tax bills this year, with 56 municipalities increasing their municipal surcharges for 2026. Read more.
7. Dear Kristina: Are we sitting too much?
The headlines in recent years have been quite dramatic: ‘Sitting is the new smoking’ or, even more ominously, ‘Sitting disease strikes the world’. Read more.
