Belgium will deploy soldiers on the streets of Brussels before the end of the year, Interior Minister Bernard Quintin confirmed on Thursday, November 20th, as the government intensifies efforts to stem a surge in drug-related violence that has shaken the capital and raised fresh concerns about the country’s vulnerability to organised crime.
Speaking on public broadcaster RTBF, Quintin said the measure “is not merely symbolic,” insisting that visible military and police patrols—particularly in major railway stations—would “offer a concrete answer to the security problems and send a strong signal to both citizens and criminals.”
Patrols inside stations will double, while soldiers will join police in “mixed patrols,” operating under limited powers until a new legal framework is completed in 2026.
The decision ends weeks of political deadlock. Defence Minister Theo Francken had insisted that troops should only be deployed once new legislation granted them powers to conduct searches, identity checks, and arrests.
A compromise will now see soldiers deployed sooner but restricted from actions that “violate physical integrity,” such as frisking suspects. Police officers accompanying them will continue to carry out those tasks.
The shift comes amid escalating violence linked predominantly to drug-trafficking networks, many of which draw recruits from migrant communities.
Belgium’s ports and transport hubs have made it an attractive gateway for international trafficking groups, allowing criminal networks to gain a foothold.
This week, federal investigators detained eight suspects—said to be active in the Albanian underworld—over a plot to assassinate Brussels’ chief prosecutor, Julien Moinil.
Brussels has also recently seen an increase in gang-related gun crime, a phenomenon which has also affected the port city of Antwerp.
Across the country, grenade attacks and shootings have become a regular occurrence, prompting one investigating judge to warn that Belgium is “becoming a narco-state.”
Moinil himself has warned that “anyone… can be hit by a stray bullet” in Brussels.
Quintin argues that years of tolerance and fragmented policing allowed these networks to flourish. The dominance of criminal gangs is a “catastrophe,” he said, adding: “We are working to tackle every link in the chain.”
With Brussels recording around 80 mostly drug-related shootings this year, the government hopes that soldiers on the streets will help restore a sense of security. Whether the move will deter the criminal networks, remains far from certain.
