Introduction
New Coalition Government Faces Difficult Start, Misses European Deadlines
As discussed in a previous CIVICUS Monitor report, Belgium formed a new government on 4th February 2025 after over seven months of negotiations. The new Prime Minister, Bart De Wever from the right-wing conservative New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), now helms a coalition of five parties facing a long list of tasks left undone during the prolonged negotiation process. During the months between the June 2024 elections and the formation of the new coalition government in February 2025, Belgium missed several critical deadlines, including the appointment of a European Commissioner candidate and the presentation of budget plans to the European Commission.
As a result of these missed deadlines, “2025 risks becoming a lost year for the Belgian budget” and is increasingly being considered a “transition year.” Europe is now demanding that Belgium reduce its structural budget deficit by €3 billion per year, but the Federal Government said, within only its first month in office, that it will at best realise only half of this.
Amnesty Slams Belgium for “Persistent Failure” in Asylum Policy
In a report published in April 2025, Amnesty International sharply criticised Belgium for “violating the rights and dignity” of asylum seekers, especially racialised single men, by continuing to deny them reception. In a damning 33-page report, the rights watchdog accuses Belgian authorities of systematically denying shelter, healthcare, and legal protection, and of ignoring over 12,000 court rulings since 2021 that ordered the state to provide housing. The watchdog demands immediate action, including reinstating shelter access, ensuring adequate access to healthcare (including psychological support), and activating Belgium’s asylum dispersal plan. It also urges the European Commission to launch infringement procedures if inaction continues. “Belgium’s failure to provide reception is not due to a lack of resources but a lack of political will”, said Eva Davidova, spokesperson for Amnesty International Belgium.
Freedom of Association
State Harassment of Palestinian Activist
On 21st April, Palestinian activist Mohammed Khatib, the European coordinator for the Samidoun prisoner solidarity network, was arrested in Brussels after attending a daily pro-Palestine protest. According to a statement by Samidoun, a police officer was seen repeatedly photographing Khatib before he was stopped and arrested, citing a “threat number” assigned to him by a state security agency. He was then taken to a central station, where he was questioned without a lawyer and released the following morning. Authorities said the arrest was linked to an April 2024 incident in which Khatib had been attacked, but he maintains the detention was politically motivated, describing it as “a form of state harassment”. During his detention, dozens of his supporters gathered outside the station in solidarity before being dispersed by riot police.
Khatib, a Palestinian refugee who fled Lebanon to Belgium in 2009, has been a prominent organiser for Samidoun since co-founding its European branch in 2011. Belgian authorities have designated him a “serious” security threat, citing his group’s alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Samidoun denies. He has faced repeated arrests and travel bans in Europe, including a 10-year ban from Switzerland and being blocked from entering the Netherlands to give a lecture at a university. In April 2024, Nicole De Moor, then-Secretary for Asylum and Migration, announced in a public statement that she was calling on the Belgian immigration agencies to withdraw Khatib’s refugee status, referring to him as an “extremist hate preacher.”
The arrest, which came amid increased policing of pro-Palestine activism in Belgium, drew condemnation from Samidoun, who called it an attempt to silence the movement against Israel’s war in Gaza, and from lawyers and activists who warned of a chilling effect on free expression. The rights watchdog Human Rights League stressed that while Khatib’s views are radical, he has never been prosecuted for any criminal offence and that freedom of expression must be upheld even for controversial opinions. The Union of Progressive Jews in Belgium denounced what it called a “smear campaign” against him, warning that the threat to his refugee status undermines democratic principles.
Freedom of Assembly
Football Riots in Brussels
On 4th May 2025, a wave of violence engulfed Brussels following a major football match. According to Brussels’ mayor, the riots were sparked by racism against Belgium's multiethnic capital. Authorities and football governing bodies spoke out against the violence, which continued the following day with “revenge” attacks.
Public Sector Strikes
Following the major strikes in February 2025 discussed in the most recent CIVICUS Monitor report, Belgium has seen a wide range of public sector strikes, from the 31st March 2025 national general strike to the ongoing transportation strikes which peaked in April and May.
On 19th March 2025, teachers at European Union schools in Brussels launched a strike against inadequate employment conditions for local teachers, particularly protesting the absence of union representation and a teachers’ pension plan. Lucile Henry, a Belgian social sciences teacher, stated: “We lack official teacher status, a teachers’ pension, and the right to unionise […] it’s embarrassing.” Parents also joined the strike, demanding a legal framework that would allow their children’s teachers to organise and defend their rights.
On 31st March 2025, tens of thousands protested proposed pension reforms, and both main airports serving Brussels were forced to cancel all flights due to the one-day nationwide strike, the second to take place over the new government’s labour market policies. Outside the headquarters of the liberal centre-right party, the Reformist Movement (Mouvement réformateur, MR), one of the five coalition parties, protestors clashed with police, and local media reported similar conflicts at other coalition party headquarters. The pension reform plan at issue rewards those who work past retirement age, which is much less favourable for lower-income earners.
Massive public sector strikes have immobilised transport networks across Belgium multiple times, especially in Brussels, where another demonstration called by socialist trade union CGSP/ACOD shut down trains, trams, the metro, and bus systems on 20th May 2025.
Pro-Palestine Demonstrations
In spring and early summer 2025, several pro-Palestine demonstrations were held, calling for an arms embargo and a ceasefire in Palestine.
On 8th April 2025, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrations outside the Israeli embassy in Uccle, a municipality in the Brussels region. The rally, which began peacefully with around 200 participants, turned tense as the crowd moved towards Bois de la Cambre, where police had set up a cordon, with protesters reportedly throwing objects and attempting to break through. Uccle Mayor Boris Dilliès described it as an unauthorised, spontaneous gathering and said the police response was authorised after projectiles were thrown, stressing that those seeking confrontation were “not real demonstrators.” According to testimony provided to the activist initiative Observatory of Police Violence – ObsPol by a woman identified as “W”, who attended the protest with her two children, she was hit by water cannon and injured by a tear gas canister despite standing on the sidewalk. She also claimed one of her children was accosted and threatened by police, and all suffered side effects due to being targeted with pepper spray and tear gas.
On 21st April, following the arrest of Mohammed Khatib, dozens of people gathered in front of the police station where he was being held to protest his detention and demand his immediate release. According to reports from activists, the gathering was aggressively dispersed by riot police. No arrests were made.
On 6th May 2025, activists from the Stop Arming Israel campaign disrupted the Annual General Meeting of Belgian company Syensqo to protest its alleged role in supplying materials for drones used in attacks on civilians in Palestine. The campaign plans to continue these actions with a mass action on 23rd June 2025.
On 11th May 2025, between 60,000 and 80,000 people marched in Brussels in solidarity with Palestine. The protestors sought to increase pressure on the Belgian government, which is seen to be avoiding meaningful action. Daily protests in solidarity with Palestine continue in Brussels, with protesters demanding that the “ongoing Nakba and its trail of injustices and atrocities must end.”
On 15th June 2025, tens of thousands flooded the streets of Brussels in a massive show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Police estimated attendance at 75,000, while organisers claim over 100,000 people took part. Clad in red, protesters formed a symbolic “red line” through the capital, calling on the Belgian government to take stronger action against Israel’s ongoing military offensive. The Brussels rally was part of a coordinated wave of “Red Line” protests across Europe.
Arrests Of Anti-Government Protesters At Brussels Pride
During the Brussels Pride march on 17th May 2025, police intervened forcefully against a group of activists who had attempted to block and deface floats from the governing MR and NV-A parties in protest at their anti-LGBTQI+ and anti-feminist policies. According to the protest group, the Queer Antifascist collective, officers kettled the counter-demonstrators, used physical force to detain two of their activists, and allegedly subjected them to intimidation and humiliating treatment in custody. One arrestee reported being tackled by four bicycle police, pinned with a knee to the head despite cooperating, and later denied privacy when using the toilet. Detainees also described witnessing discriminatory cell assignments based on race, verbal abuse, and physical violence towards non-white prisoners. After nearly 27 hours in detention, the two activists were released without charge, but the prosecutor reportedly warned that targeting the NV-A float—linked to the prime minister—was viewed as especially serious.
Antifascist Protesters Disrupt Conference with Links to the Hungarian Far-Right
On 21st May, several Brussels-based antifascist groups organised a protest against a conference titled Women and Conservatism held by MCC Brussels, a think tank linked to the Hungarian government. The event featured speakers from right-wing Flemish party Vlaams Belang and the far-right French feminist collective Nemesis. A significant police presence, including a water cannon and numerous riot officers, was deployed to secure the conference. Protesters threw eggs at both attendees and police. In response, police used the water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Antifascist activists had been waging a months-long campaign against the event by email and on social media, targeting venues hosting MCC events. On 8th April, the group put up posters on the facades of a dozen hotels and event venues, with the slogan “Here we welcome the extreme right #MCC.” Five activists were administratively arrested and held overnight alongside a journalist who was covering the action (see more under Expression). On 13th May, protesters threw eggs at the facade of the Stanhope hotel, which was due to host the conference. As a result, the hotel withdrew its commitment to the event and the organisers were forced to hold the event at a different location.
These actions drew strong condemnation from the event organisers. MCC Brussels spokesman John O’Brien said: “Let’s be clear: this is an attempt to silence women. This week’s event featured four women speaking for themselves - about politics, identity, and freedom”, adding “These bullies do not fear hate speech; they fear dissent. Their efforts go beyond protest - they are a calculated attempt to destroy the foundations of democratic discourse.” Balázs Orbán, political director to the Hungarian prime minister and chairman of the board of Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), MCC Brussels’ parent institution, wrote an open letter to Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever following the egging of the Stanhope hotel. “I urge you, Prime Minister, to take a firm stand on the defence of freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. These are not merely matters of public policy, but of democratic integrity and responsible leadership”, he wrote.
As previously reported by the CIVICUS Monitor, in 2024, another event by MCC Brussels, the NatCon (National Conservatism) conference faced a series of challenges, including a ban and police intervention.
Anti-Trans Activists Detained
On 4th June 2025, Brussels police arrested Lois McLatchie Miller and Chris Elston, self-proclaimed pro-life and child-protection activists. Miller and Elston, who held signs advocating for the “protection of children against transgender medical treatments”, were confronted by counter-protesters. Their signs read “Children are never born in the wrong body” and “Children cannot consent to puberty blockers.” After they were surrounded by counter-protesters, they called the police. However, the police took them into custody. They were reportedly taken to the police station, searched and released after several hours without any formal charges. They were also informed that their signs had been destroyed. Paul Coleman, Executive Director of the Christian organisation Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF), the organisation to which Elston belongs, stated that “the Belgian authorities not only failed to uphold the fundamental right to speak freely, they turned the power of the state against those who were peacefully exercising their rights at the behest of a mob."
Freedom of Expression
Political Interference By MPs In The Operation Of Local Media Outlet
As reported by the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium (MFRR), on 27th May 2025, during a meeting of the administrative council of local television channel TéléSambre, three Reformist Movement (MR) representatives demanded the resignation of editor-in-chief Martial Dumont, threatening dismissal proceedings if he refused. The move followed a dispute days earlier, when MR MP Denis Ducarme reacted angrily to Dumont’s Facebook post about the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington DC. Dumont did not resign, and MR administrators later reportedly stepped down from the board. The European Federation of Journalists and the Association of Professional Journalists condemned the incident as unacceptable political interference in editorial independence.
Journalist Detained Overnight For Covering A Civil Disobedience Action
On 8th April 2025, freelance journalist Thomas Haulotte was detained by police and held overnight while covering an anti-far-right civil disobedience action in Brussels. Haulotte was following activists who wanted to put up posters with messages denouncing the far right when he was administratively detained. Despite showing his press card, he was handcuffed, detained overnight in a cell with five activists, and released around 6:30 a.m. Police claimed he was suspected of collaborating in the illegal protest and questioned the legitimacy of his journalistic mission. The Belgian Journalists' Association announced it would refer the case to the Standing Police Monitoring Committee and file a complaint.