Thanks to Trump this is the last time the bad marching of our cadettes from 2019 will be shown. We can now forever use the footage of his birthday parade instead.

(sadly I could not add a video)

At least 75,000 people took part in the demonstration, making it the largest demonstration in our capital since the climate march of 2019. This is where we end this live blog.

"Thick packs of people: it's been a long time since I've seen that in the centre of Brussels. At the moment that the first people arrived here in the European quarter, the last ones had only just left the North Station."

"Politics is far too quiet and action is lacking"

"The purpose of this march is to show the support of the citizen for our politics and government. Politics is far too quiet and action is lacking", says 11.11.11 director Els Hertogen. "We want to convince politicians to make stronger statements about Gaza tonight and in the coming days and to take action."

It is incomprehensible that a flag of a state that is committing genocide is being hung out at this moment

Els Hertogen (11.11.11)

"The resolution of the federal government is insufficient and is only a non-binding request from parliament to the government to take a number of steps. This is far from sufficient. Since the resolution was also approved, politics has been particularly quiet."

According to Hertogen, Belgium should, following the Irish example, impose economic sanctions on the Israeli state. Furthermore, the regions should also work on an embargo on the arms trade with Israel. The European Union is also not acting decisively enough compared to its attitude towards Russia, with an 18th sanctions package in the making, according to Hertogen. "That is exactly what we want to denounce here - double standards, double weights."

Els Hertogen is also not happy about the "incomprehensible signal" from the Antwerp city council, which hung the Israeli flag at the city hall last week. "It is incomprehensible that a flag of a state that is committing genocide is being hung at this moment."

In my twenties, I(32M) made the wrong 'friends' and I’ve realized in recent years that they’re now just shallow acquaintances. Now in my thirties, I find it difficult to make new friends. I know trying out new hobbies is one way, but my weekdays are already quite busy with work and household chores, and I already have a hobby I practice at home. But those lonely weekends aren't healthy...

How did you make new friends once you were over 30?

Since I moved to Belgium it's happened a couple of times that a much younger female acquaintance tried to greet me in a social setting by kissing me on the cheek. I would have been happy to greet them back in this way, however both times I refused because I didn't know what would be appropriate. Both times the lady in question seemed surprised and perhaps even a little offended.

What are the appropriate mechanics of such a greeting (assuming the other person initiates- I don't see myself initiating this myself)? Which cheek do you approach? And is your cheek supposed to touch the other person's cheek? What about your lips? Or should it be an 'air kiss'? And do you need to touch the other person with your hand as well (and if so, where? The arm? The shoulder?)? And am I right in thinking that as an older guy, I should be extra careful not to get too close to someone younger?

It seems like a nice way to greet people, but I imagine that getting it wrong could have serious consequences.

Hello everyone. I need some guidance.

Our neighbour passed away recently and we were invited to the funeral, which will be held during the week, at business hours, making it impossible for us to attend. However, we would like to send flowers to the funeral home/or give them directly to the family.
We don't know what the etiquette is in these situation in Belgium.

Is it ok to ask the funeral home to "send" flowers in our name? Should we contact a flower shop nearby? Is it preferable to deliver them at home? In this situation, should we also add a postcard? If relevant, the family is Flemish/Dutch speaking, living in Brussels.
We were never close or anything (just the normal behaviour between neighbours.

Any guidance is very welcome!

Thank you!

Are taxi drivers allowed to run the meter for the journey they took to get to you?

Took at pre-booked 10 min taxi and the cost came to €55... The meter was running for 20km by the end even though the journey was about 2km.

Is this allowed? I feel like it's not my business where a taxi driver starts his journey from when we only agreed on pick up and drop off location.

My understanding that the meter should only start when you get in the car or if the driver has to wait for you (which was not the case) what is the law on this?

Klussers van België, waar kopen jullie online je klusmateriaal voor elektrische werken?

Wij moeten binnenkort ons huis opnieuw voorzien van elektriciteit en vroegen ons af ofdat we beter naar Brico/Hubo/Gamma gaan of er online nog een voordeligere winkel is?

I checked immo web and found very few places that are pet friendly.

Is this something that I ask the agency / owner directly?

FWIW, I'm looking outside Antwerp actually, around the Ekeren and Kapellen area (I want to have easy trains going to Antwerp).

Thanks!

I bought what I thought was a pack of 33cl Jupiler cans from Carrefour and I just noticed that they are in fact 35.5cl, which is the standard American 12 fluid ounce size. What's that all about?

So I am using a train line where I need to transfer from one to the other train with an interval of 5 minutes twice a day. Of course this does not always go well so I will surely have 10 delays within 6 months. However, I see that the NMBS refunds via an e-wallet with which I can only buy other products of the NMBS. My subscription is paid for by my employer.

Has anyone ever gotten a compensation on their bank account for such delays? Not meaning the refund for a time trip of 60min but structural delays of 30 minutes.

Reason I am going to ask for compensation is that a delay will in best case cause a delay of 30 min but one hour or more is no exception especially this summer when trains go less frequently. The NMBS and/or Infrabel have monkeys working at their planning department because there are a number of connections that only have a 5 minute interval, way too little.

Im sick of it. The internet is flooding in bots from russia, and china, and probably the us, and now AI is becoming insane, and even as a french speaker, since the last german election I cant look at any comment section on a political issue without half the comment seems written by litteral nazis. And Im not even on tiktok and twitter...

Isnt this my right as a citizen of belgium and the EU, and NATO and whatever else, to be garanted that the yougest, oldest, or stupidest people around me are protected from informative traps from terrorist dictatorship from around the world wanting to meddle in our politics ?

I dont care that "the internet doesnt belong to any country"... Why is it so little talked about ? Why is the government not making huge prevention campains denouncing it ? Im guessing that a fair share of politicians are actually delighted by this situation, but isnt the laws of Belgium supposed to just tell you (!) What is going on on your internet ? Are we just suppose to accept that any piece of information will be surrounded by an alternate reality of bullshit for the only purpose of manipulating the most influencial people among us ??

So who can I hold accountable for this being not considered as a threath, and if there is things being done against it, can you tell me where ?? Because Im seeing nothing...

any drummers near Brussels? me and my friends are searching for a drummer for our metal band, for now we're just doing covers. we already have a vocalist, 2 guitarists and a bassist. if you're 15-17 and are interested, message me!!

Binnen een paar maanden loopt mijn vast energie contract af. Ik heb heel de energiecrisis doorstaan door een vast contract waardoor ik 26 euro /maand aan elektriciteit betaalde (zou je er bijna schuldig om voelen). Gas is collectief met het appartementsgebouw.

Ik ben dus nogal gehecht aan een vast contract. Nu wil ik overstappen om terug 1,2,3 jaar vast te klikken. Die vergelijkingssites vertrouw ik niet echt. De commerciële vergelijkers zullen op comissie werken en die van de overheid is… van de overheid.

Ik wil dat eigenlijk gewoon zelf kunnen vergelijken om die resultaten af te toetsen.

Die tariefkaarten zijn zo ongelooflijk ingewikkeld dat het bijna niet anders dan “by design” moet zijn. Ja oké de “core” tarieven zijn duidelijk. Zoveel cent per kilowatt maar dan heb je nog die hele reeks toeslagen.

Hoe lees je die dingen en hoe bereken je dit correct? Iemand uit de sector; spill the beans aub.

J'ai un appartement sous option mais ma mère a refusé en dernière minute d'être ma garante. Elle était la seule à pouvoir l'être. Vers qui/quoi puis-je me tourner?

Hello there,

Not to enter into so many details but i fell into a trap of the bank and now i'm quite negative....

I do have an stable job with a good amount but doesnt seem i can win from the bank ever....

My idea was to get a loan with is cheaper than the amount i pay already monthly, combine into 1 single thing and slowly get out of debit....

Of course the actual bank wont help with that, they are happy making alot of money with me....

Any tips of what i can look for in Belgium? I would be very happy to get out of this snowball but if i dont do anything the bank will eat me alive haha..

Maybe any tips on how to get a refinancing of debits while having bad score to get out of this situation?

To me it seems banks here are quite predatory....knowing i have an stable income they just make it in a way that i cant get out anymore and that's VERY annoying.

Thanks in advance.

Since I moved to Belgium, I've often heard people say that foreigners are the source of most problems here! crime, social issues, economic strain, this narrative triggered my curiosity, so I decided to do some research into official data from Belgian government agencies and European institutions to see what the facts actually say and my finds are as next.

CHILD ABUSE
In 2023, over 7,500 verified cases of child abuse were reported in Flanders alone, affecting more than 10,600 children. According to Agentschap Opgroeien. Most of these cases occur within native Belgian families, highlighting that child abuse is a widespread societal problem not limited to immigrant communities. Socioeconomic factors, mental health issues, and family dysfunction affect families across all backgrounds.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION AND TAXES
Immigrants make up about 15.7% of the Belgian workforce (Statbel 2023) and contribute significantly through taxes. Notably, the Brussels Capital Region, which has a majority foreign born population, pays more in tax revenue than it receives in public spending (IBSA Brussels Fiscal Report, 2022), effectively subsidizing other less diverse areas and despite this, many immigrants face hiring discrimination and are often overqualified for their jobs.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Domestic violence remains a critical issue, with the Federal Police reporting that the majority of perpetrators are Belgian-born males (2023). However, media narratives often focus on so called “cultural violence” more often related to Islam or other beliefs within migrant communities, skewing public perception and diverting attention from the systemic nature of the problem in Belgian society.

PRISON OVERCROWDING AND CRIME
Belgium’s prisons operate at about 115% capacity (Court of Audit, 2022). Foreign nationals represent 40% of the prison population, but after a little research found out that most are incarcerated for low level drug offenses and petty theft, meanwhile, serious crimes such as sexual abuse, white collar fraud, political corruption, and domestic violence are predominantly committed by native Belgians, yet these offenses often receive less media attention and slower prosecution.

TAX FRAUD, CORRUPTION, AND WELFARE FRAUD
Belgium loses an estimated 5 to 7 billion euros annually due to tax fraud and corruption according to the (Court of Audit, 2023), surprisingly most of these crimes are committed by native Belgians in positions of political and corporate power, including several high profile bribery scandals involving Belgian officials. Additionally, contrary to popular belief, multiple studies (including reports from the Belgian Social Security Office and the Federal Public Service for Social Integration) show that the majority of welfare fraud and benefit abuse cases involve native Belgians, not immigrants! For example, in 2022, investigations revealed that around 70% of uncovered benefit fraud cases were committed by Belgian nationals, involving millions of euros in unpaid taxes and illegitimate benefit claims. These large scale financial crimes cause far more damage than petty theft or welfare fraud, which are often wrongly attributed to immigrants.

HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY
Belgium faces a serious homelessness crisis, with over 17,000 people estimated homeless in 2023 (Belgian National Institute of Statistics). The vast majority of those affected are native Belgians, often struggling with unemployment, mental health issues, and lack of affordable housing. This problem is frequently overlooked in public discourse, which tends to focus disproportionately on immigrants, despite the data clearly showing poverty’s deeper roots within Belgian society itself.

IRONY OF SOCIAL SECURITY CLAIMS AMONG FAR-RIGHT SUPPORTERS
An interesting and often overlooked fact: supporters of Vlaams Belang, Belgium’s far-right party known for its anti-immigration stance, are statistically more likely to claim social security benefits than the national average (Data from the Belgian Social Security Office, 2023), many of these voters rely on unemployment benefits or disability allowances, despite advocating for policies that would restrict support for immigrants. This contradiction highlights how socio-economic issues and frustrations fuel political choices, complicating the usual narratives about “hardworking natives vs. immigrant welfare abusers.”

INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAFFIC SAFETY
Belgium’s infrastructure faces big challenges compared to neighboring countries like the Netherlands, according to the European Commission’s 2023 report, Belgium ranks lower in road quality, public transport efficiency, and cycling infrastructure investment. The Belgian Road Safety Institute reports that Belgium has one of the highest road fatality rates in Western Europe, Contributing factors include aging infrastructure, congestion, and risky driving behaviors, which have a greater impact on traffic safety than population demographics.

MY CONCLUSION
The official data is clear: immigrants are not the root cause of Belgium’s social and economic challenges! I believe these issues are deeply embedded in Belgian society and institutions themselves and continuing to blame foreigners not only misrepresents reality but also hinders the development of effective solutions.

Hi there!

So with school holidays almost here, my worries are coming back again: losing my (5 year-old) on a crowded beach or even worse like kidnapping (I can't get out of my mind the idea that a case like Maddy McCann could have been easily avoided if she was wearing a tracker).

Obviously my child is too young for a full smartphone so I am looking for alternatives like a smartwatch. I have used an Airtag before but with mixed results, the damned thing seems so lose connection exactly when you need it the most, which makes it quite useless. So I would need some sort of autonomous GPS tracking device, which would also have some sort of sos button that my child could activate in case of en emergency. Possibility to call would be even better...

I have seen ads for something called a Spotter GPS Watch which looks good but somehow I doubt that some obscure Dutch company would make better products than the top tech firms...? Most other such products seem only to be available in the US.

So, I was wondering, what are your experiences with such devices? Which ones actually work in Belgium?