On Thursday, the Federal Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) denied in parliament having summoned Marc De Mesmaeker, the General Commissioner of the Federal Police over the weekend, following reports that his future was hanging in the balance.
On Monday, police unions rallied behind the Federal Police's Commissioner General Marc De Mesmaeker over growing reports his position was becoming untenable and that his mandate, set to expire in June, would not be extended.
This belief was preceded and amplified by reports that the Interior and Justice Ministers had called a meeting with De Mesmaeker over the weekend to discuss the police's seemingly failing recruitment process and a rise in drug-related incidents in Antwerp.
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However, when asked about the meeting by Flemish nationalist MPs on Thursday, the Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden stated that "we have not called in the General Commissioner, and certainly not under the current circumstances," referencing the recent murder of a police officer in Schaerbeek.
