- 7 ore fa
Belgio rischia di diventare un narco-Stato: politici a confronto a The Ring
Bruxelles e Anversa registrano più sparatorie legate alla droga e guerre tra clan. Il Belgio ha perso il controllo? Ne discutono il sindaco Philippe Close e l’oppositore N-VA Mathias Vanden Borre.
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/07/10/belgio-rischia-di-diventare-un-narco-stato-politici-a-confronto-a-the-ring
Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.
Bruxelles e Anversa registrano più sparatorie legate alla droga e guerre tra clan. Il Belgio ha perso il controllo? Ne discutono il sindaco Philippe Close e l’oppositore N-VA Mathias Vanden Borre.
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2026/07/10/belgio-rischia-di-diventare-un-narco-stato-politici-a-confronto-a-the-ring
Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.
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00:08Hello and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show today, broadcasting from our studio
00:13in Brussels. I'm Stefan Grobe, thank you for joining us. On The Ring, our debaters go face
00:19to face on some of the biggest issues of the day. Today, on this special edition from the
00:24European Capital, we want to talk about a big problem in Belgium, but not only there.
00:29Drugs, crime and what to do about it. Luis Albertos has more.
00:37Belgium's drug problem is centered around one word, Antwerp. It's home to Europe's second
00:46biggest port, one of the continent's main entry points for drugs from Latin America.
00:52Last year, Belgian authorities seized 55 tons of cocaine here, but officials admit that
00:58much larger quantities likely get through, often in hidden shipments of bananas, frozen
01:03food or timber. The problem has become a national security issue. Drug-related violence has spiked
01:10in Antwerp and Brussels, and gangs are even infiltrating parts of public administration through bribery
01:16and intimidation. Has Belgium evolved into a narco-state, as one senior Antwerp judge warned?
01:24Are the many measures taken on a national and local level having any effect?
01:32Well, a lot to unpack here for our contenders, and here they are.
01:38Philippe Klos, the mayor of the city of Brussels for nine years. This politician from the French-speaking
01:44socialist party takes a dual-track approach to drug-related problems, being firm on trafficking
01:49while addressing the social issues. He champions supervised drug consumption centers, saying
01:54these offer solutions to tackling the drug problem in Brussels. Taking tough and effective action against
02:00dealers alone is not enough. We must also continue to treat drug addiction as a genuine public health issue,
02:06he says. Matthias van den Borde, a Brussels Member of Parliament for the Flemish National Party NVA.
02:13He's a former city councilor, primarily responsible for home affairs, including security. According to him,
02:19his love for Brussels is great, which is why solving issues like drug trafficking is so close to his heart.
02:25He believes breaking the business model of criminal organizations is essential in this fight.
02:30By focusing on tracing, freezing and confiscating criminally acquired assets,
02:34we make organized crime less lucrative and dismantle the financial structures, he says.
02:41So let me welcome to the ring Philippe Klos and Matthias van den Borde. Great to have you here,
02:47good to see you. Are you ready? Yes, ready. Perfect. So, certain Brussels neighborhoods have seen
02:53drug-related violence, including shootings, in which bystanders have been injured. Who carries the
03:00greatest responsibility for this situation, Mr. Mayor? Well, first of all, it's always the mayor and the
03:05public authority. We need to give peace in every neighborhood. But first of all, to take the
03:10responsibilities for very important for a politician. And after, we need to find some solution and also to
03:18learn about the cause. Why so many people using drugs? Why there are so many traffic in the street? And
03:24it's true that in
03:26Brussels we are regarding that, not only in Brussels, but for all the Belgian territory. Right. Is Brussels
03:32still a safe city? Last year there were, I think, almost 100 shootings, which makes Brussels one of the
03:40top three cities with the most gun violence in Europe. Marseille, Napoli, and then you have Brussels,
03:46which is very alarming, of course. And this gun violence is really increasing the last few years.
03:51And for me, I think there's still a lack of urgency in Brussels itself, from maybe the mayors,
03:59but also on the regional level, to have unified, strong response. Also this year, we see over 30
04:05shootings already happening this year. So there is, I think, more needs to be done, of course, yes.
04:11On what level? It's a local level, there's a federal level, because the drugs come through the big ports?
04:16Yeah, which is one of the biggest assets in Belgium is all ports in Antwerp. It's true that for the
04:21Belgian economy, it's so important, but it's also the principal default, because 60% of the drugs,
04:28cocaine, who comes in the European field, come from the port of Antwerp. Then we need also to regard
04:34what we can do together to shoot this problem together. And I always propose also that the Brussels
04:40police department help the colleagues of Antwerp to help that, because if the cocaine comes in
04:47our territory, we know that they are in the street of Brussels a few days after.
04:51Still, drug-related crime and shootings have become routine. You just mentioned the numbers.
04:58At what point, at what point do politicians have to admit that policy has failed?
05:05But first of all, for me, it's a real problem, because we have this sort of impress that it's
05:10only the police department and justice who can solve this problem. We are always a problem to
05:15speak about health and why so many people using drugs. In the past, it's, for example, for heroin,
05:22these people, very poor area, we're using that. But no, the cocaine is everywhere, in every works,
05:27in every culture of the society. There are so many people using drugs. And it's not only the people who
05:33are
05:33poor with a disease problem, health problem, mental problem. And I think we need to work very
05:39strong against the drug traffics, but at the same time, to understand why so many people from our
05:46population using drugs. And all we can find and find an issue to help these people to go out of
05:53the
05:53drugs addiction. What is the most urgent thing here? Is it the social issue? The social aspect? Is it
05:58the crime aspect? I mean... Of course, you need to work on all levels, of course. You need to have
06:04a strong, integrated government to attack these problems. I think this is partly what's lacking
06:09also in Brussels. It's the organization of government is very fragmented. You have 19 mayors. We're
06:14standing here with Philip Close, one of the 19 mayors. But maybe all of these 19 mayors are not really
06:19agreeing on the measures that should be taken. And to have a unified, strong response, of course,
06:26you need to have this one vision of how to tackle these problems socially, but also attack these
06:32problems of gun violence. And for me, this is what is lacking a bit in Brussels is the structure of
06:38Brussels itself as a capital region is very fragmented and which makes response also very fragmented. So if
06:45one thing needs to happen is that you have to unify strong responses necessary. Speaking of unifying,
06:52there are six police bodies in the city. It's finished. It's finished. There's going to be one.
07:02Is that a measure that will help increase the security for Brussels? We will see. But if you take,
07:08for example, our colleague from Antwerp, this is only one police department, only one mayor will become
07:14now our prime minister. And you know that all the drugs come from the port of Antwerp. Then, you know,
07:19unified is maybe one of the options. But the best option, I repeat, is first of all collaboration
07:26between the different services on the whole Europe territories. Look what it happens in Le Havre,
07:31for example. The drugs coming from first from Rotterdam, then Antwerp, non Le Havre,
07:37and you talk about Marseille. And also, I repeat, only work with the police department and justice,
07:43and not with the health department. And I have always impressed that the people are afraid to speak
07:48about health and the mental health problem of a part of our population. For me, it's impossible to win in
07:55this fight.
07:55Yeah. I mean, we come to this aspect later. Is Belgium spending enough on police or is it just spending
08:03badly?
08:04Well, police needs to be funded on different levels. You have the local police, which is mostly funded by
08:11the local authorities. And this we see in Brussels, maybe Brussels city or Brussels is not a bad example,
08:17but there are other communities, municipalities, with mayors who are really lacking the proper funding
08:23of police. We see that the areas where there are the problems are greatest now, in the south of Brussels,
08:29there's a lack of six to eight hundred police officers in the field. Of course, this is a lack
08:35of funding, which firstly needs to be addressed on the local level. And then you need the help,
08:40of course, of the federal level as well, with the federal police and federal investigative police,
08:44federal structures, which needs to be reinforced as well. But for me, one of the biggest challenges,
08:49of course, is to integrate the police on the Brussels level. Now, this is going to happen.
08:55This is a reform taking place. But then, of course, you need to adjust the budgets as well.
09:00And I think the local level, the regional level, need to invest more in safety issues,
09:06safety measurements. I think this needs to be a priority. You know that now, since a few days,
09:12we have only one police department for Brussels with among 7000 police agents. But around Brussels, just
09:20100 meters at the border of Brussels, there are some police departments of 50 police agents. It's
09:27ridiculous. I propose that this police department, around Brussels, work with us in the same zone,
09:34because the border of the city for the drug traffic, this is nonsense. Of course. And more
09:38collaboration, federal level for all the big inquiries, and the local level with more integrated
09:45policy department. But I know that in Brussels and Belgium, there are always people who resist
09:50to work with Brussels. It's very strange, because we are the other assets of this country, Brussels,
09:57like I speak about the port of Antwerp. And I'm sure that the more we integrate it, the more we
10:02work
10:02together, it's better for our population.
10:05Mariusz, are you resisting working with Brussels?
10:07I think it's a bit contradictory. Brussels never really wants to integrate their own
10:13police force, and now they're asking to integrate other police forces. I think the main challenge
10:18right now is to do it. I think the main challenge right now is to integrate and have a fully
10:23operational
10:23police force for the whole of Brussels, with unified policies regarding drug trafficking and gun violence,
10:30etc. This is a major challenge right now for Brussels. And I urge the mayor, because he will be head
10:36of this
10:36police force, to really take up this responsibility and to have a unified response. And then, of course,
10:43you need to cooperate also with Barthe Weaver. He was also mentioned, our prime minister, because he acknowledges
10:48the problem as the mayor of Antwerp, but also as a prime minister. He's clearly stating that this is almost
10:55becoming an existential threat, the gun violence and the drugs trade. And he's really
11:00trying to, on a national level, on an international level, putting this higher on the agenda.
11:04And in this way, I hope we can cooperate.
11:07Okay, quick response?
11:08But quick response, I repeat, we need to work also about public health.
11:12I repeat, only police department and justice department is not enough.
11:16I think in Europe we have a good example is what happens in Portugal.
11:20I have meeting with Antonio Costa, our president of the council, the European council,
11:24to say, okay, how can we also manage this so huge challenge? And I repeat, so many people using
11:33drugs and why they're using drugs. And we have also the expertise of a lot of medics, psychologists,
11:39all the people who try to help the politics to build another policy about drugs. And it's not a debate
11:45about the legalization and all this motto that if you want to talk about health, it's because you
11:50want legalization. You know, I want to find an issue. And also when I speak with the police
11:56department, they say, okay, we are police agents and the justice department does the same. We can
12:00fight against drugs traffic. But to convince all the people, the people to stop with drugs,
12:05is another question. It is not the police department.
12:07I need to stop you here. Thank you very much for this first round. I think we're just getting
12:13warmed up here. And now it's time for gloves off.
12:20In this segment, we want our guests to ask each other questions and challenge each other directly.
12:27I'm going to start with Matthias. Do you have a question for the mayor?
12:33Many questions. But can you, for example, name one policy which you implemented yourself,
12:40which helped the security of our neighborhoods here in Brussels?
12:43Yeah. For example, we have a lot of problems of mental disease in Brussels, in the field. And
12:49the justice said, okay, this people are drugs addicts, but there's not regarding the justice that we call
12:56the EMUT program. We build it with the federal government. And the police department said,
13:01we are not psychologists. And the goal is to also say that the police department,
13:06that we reinforce against the drugs traffic and the drugs traffickers first. But for the people
13:12who are in drugs addiction, they are another solution. And we work with the different hospitals
13:18of the city to link police department and health department. It's for me very, very important always
13:25to do this sort of cross board between the different public services.
13:32I think, Matthias, you know that collaboration and work together is maybe the only issue. And it's true
13:41that I'm a little bit provocative when I say that, okay, we can do a big police department with the
13:48border outside of Brussels. But I think that you have a special role, your party, with all this
13:53municipality at the border of Brussels to convince them, okay, one police department I know is very
13:59difficult, but to integrate a sort of task force together to work together for the welfare of
14:06population. Yes. I think this is on a federal level. There's now projects being formed to unify
14:14police zones. And as you know, it's voluntarily. So I think, except for Brussels, of course,
14:20which is implemented. But I think this is the challenges that some communities are facing right
14:25now to fill their annual budgets for the police force. And I think this is an exercise that will
14:32happen in the next few years. And how exactly which forms, which zones will you be unified? I don't know.
14:38Of course, this is for the mayors and the local level to decide. But I think this evolution will take
14:42place.
14:43Yes. Okay. Question for him. Another question, maybe, is how do you see the further cooperation
14:48with your other mayors? Of course, you're one of the 19 mayors. You also have a minister-president.
14:55And how do you see this to better unify, to have a stronger response as a whole with your cooperation
15:04with the other mayors and minister-presidents? I think all the mayors are very concerned about that.
15:10And the federal law decide that it is the mayor. We need to lead the police department. We have
15:15in collaboration with the MUNAS president, whether it is a level of the region, there is more to give
15:21a sort of help to this new form of police department. But I'm very positive. I'm saying, first of all,
15:31is a sort of state of mind. If we want to succeed, I'm very sure that we can do it.
15:37And now, okay, that's not
15:39the law that we expect. Everybody knows about that. But we respect the law. And now we build this new
15:45police department together. And I hope and I'm sure that for the best welfare of the population, that is
15:51going to be a success. What makes this topic so relevant and so important, that it's not only
15:56Brussels, Antwerp, Belgium. This is the major hub, because you're close to all the important markets,
16:02the Dutch, the Germans, the French around you. What about European cooperation?
16:07Yes, I think for the European, it's very important, but not only European, it's a world cooperation,
16:13because you know that the large part of the cocaine was made in South America, that we need also this
16:19contact with South America. But I repeat, war against drugs, only with police department,
16:25that's not enough. Okay. We need also to share the experience of other countries, I repeat,
16:30like Portugal, about the health public department who can help all the drugs. Okay. And now,
16:37your question, your last question to Mathieu. But I think what we need to do with the drugs is also
16:43a big conference when we stop with the motto and all the slogans and all the people say,
16:48I do that better than you. Do you have the feeling that our prime minister is from your party,
16:54not from mine, is ready to organize a big conference with all the people who are leading
17:01local level, regional level, federal level, to try to build together a Belgian policy about fighting
17:10drugs? I think he's very open to the suggestion. I think you will know him personally as well as you
17:16have contacted him and also publicly. He's very outspoken in this war on drugs as a mayor,
17:21but also on a federal level as a prime minister. He has opened a task force, which is integrated all
17:28the different ministers who have also, for example, in healthcare policies, which are implemented and
17:34also have a role to play and is really trying to move forward. So if there is a question maybe
17:39from
17:39Brussels to cooperate or to have issues and to debate them on a national level, I think there
17:44always is a possibility. All right. Well, we have heard the views from our guests. Now it's time to
17:51introduce a new voice.
17:56And I would like to bring in Belgium's Drugs Commissioner Iné van Wiemersch, who spoke about
18:02the social aspect of Belgium's drug problem. She said this, we cannot expect the military in the
18:08streets to solve the root causes of this problem. We know that we have to develop an educational policy
18:14and poverty policy. We need to get people back to work. We really have to raise the quality of life
18:21in our city. Does she have a point here?
18:24Well, I think it's the best woman at the best place. Iné do very good jobs. He was formed also
18:31in Brussels and the Justice Department. We work also in the Police Department of Brussels. And
18:37Iné van Wiemersch is very, very realistic. And Trey also to make collaboration with all the people.
18:45And as I repeat, drugs is not only for the police department. She speaks about education,
18:51about poverty, about what we can do together. She also speaks about military in the streets.
18:56That is an interesting aspect. It exists. It exists, but does it help?
19:01Well, the main focus on military in the streets was first the security of public
19:06buildings, which were under threat. Jewish synagogues, also public buildings in EU quarters, etc.
19:13Of course, they will never solve the drug problem as a whole. That is not their purpose
19:17to have them patrolling in the streets. You need to have other measures as well,
19:22police measures, but also other health care measures, etc., to have a whole of government
19:26approach. And in this way, I agree with our drug commissionary. She compared it to an iceberg.
19:33I mean, the violence is at the top of the iceberg, very visible. But you need to increase the
19:38temperature to make the iceberg melt. And then, of course, you need to work on poverty issues,
19:44safety issues, homelessness, etc. All right, let's take a break here on The Ring. We'll be back with
19:50more after this. Don't go away.
20:00Welcome back to this special edition of The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show. I'm Stefan Grobe,
20:06and I'm joined by Philipp Kloos, the mayor of the city of Brussels, and Matthias Vandenbaure from the
20:11opposition NVA party. We have data here from the Belgian Public Health Institute using wastewater measurements
20:18that show that during weekends, the amount of cocaine found in this water is significantly higher.
20:25This was especially the case in Namur, Liège, and Brussels South. The difference between weekends
20:32and weekdays was in some cases as high as 90%, indicating use almost doubled. Matthias,
20:41is this a surprise for you? I think the drug use in general and cocaine, it's almost everywhere
20:50integrated in our society, but we cannot really normalize it. Even though we know that it's readily
20:56available, we still need to consider it as a problem drug, I think. But you were talking obviously
21:01about nightlife, right? Yeah, yeah. Maybe in higher circles? But you know something I heard that the
21:07highest level of cocaine in the water is in this neighborhood, in the European neighborhood.
21:14It is not only against... But this is dead on weekends here, right? And this is during the week,
21:18and in the water we learn that because they can also study well in which part of the city,
21:27and it's true that it's in the south of Brussels, which is the rich part of Brussels, and here in
21:32the
21:32European area. Then also, I always say to the European responsible person that be careful. It's also
21:39a large part of people working because the work is so hard. They're using drugs not only to be fun,
21:46to go party, something like that, but because they need drugs to work. And that's a real problem for me.
21:51I think you need to be more and more people using drugs only because they need the drugs. They need
21:57between... Should that type of consumer face harsher penalties? I think you need to
22:02responsabilise the drug use as well. I mean, this is part of the integrated approach. I mean,
22:07you have to focalise on the gun violence, of course, and the gangs, and you need to attack also the
22:12middle and higher management and the trades, the money, and all those measures. But in a way,
22:17you need to also responsabilise the users. And this is what Barthe Weaver also is saying in Antwerp,
22:22and in his fight against drugs, that it's not really so innocent to use drugs yourself because
22:28you're really compliant or a part of this whole scheme. And the real drug violence originates in
22:37the south of America with all the extreme gun violence. In a way, as an end user, you're a part
22:43of
22:43of this. For example, if you compare it to the trade of clothing, when it's really made in an
22:52unsanitary way or with child labour, etc., people will say, okay, we won't buy this anymore. But I
22:58think you need to say the same about drugs. I mean, you're part of this very disorganised crime,
23:02in a way. I'm going to bring up against the educational aspect. And you alluded to that
23:09earlier. Now, drugs, it's an old problem, right? And even when I was in school, many years ago,
23:16I was told that drugs are bad. Why is that system failing? If we see that drugs are among youngsters,
23:25the use of drugs is increasing. Remember in the year 80s, because there was a slogan,
23:31a motto in the United States who said, just say no. But that's not enough. Just say no. Remember,
23:37it's Nancy Reagan who said that. Right. Just say no is not enough. If you want to educate someone,
23:42you need to explain to find the issue. Why so many people using that? So why is that not happening
23:48enough? But because the people doesn't want to pick about the public health. They say, okay,
23:52we ask at the police department to solve this problem. I repeat, when I ask to the youth people,
23:58why do you use drugs? It's because it's cheaper than to pay a cocktail. I want to be high. I
24:03want
24:03to go to a party. Then there's MDMA, cocaine, ecstasy. Then they're using that because I want to be high.
24:09And that's it's cheaper than to take a cocktail. That's a real big problem. And we need to,
24:15if you want an education program, first of all, politicians need to accept that we need to educate
24:22people with the drugs, not for the people using drugs, but also because we need to learn about
24:28the different addiction. All right. Now it's time to move on to our fifth and final round.
24:37And here we want to do something different. I'm going to ask you a set of questions and you can
24:42only answer with yes or no. Most guests do that. Impossible for a competition. And maybe,
24:48okay. Maybe not. So the first, the first one is for you. Has Belgium lost control of the drug issue?
24:55No. Not yet. Okay. Is Brussels less safe than it was five years ago? Yes. No. Does Belgium need
25:06tougher sentencing laws? Tougher punishments? Tougher punishments? Yes. Yes. Should combating drug
25:17trafficking become Belgium's number one security priority? Top five. Yes. Top three. Yes. Same answer.
25:26Okay. Police complain they arrest suspects only to see them released days later. Is Belgium's justice system
25:34broken? No. Yes. In that way, yes. Is there simply too little fear of punishment in Belgium today?
25:44Yes. Against the deterrence? No. Should Belgium legalize some drugs to undercut criminal networks? Yes.
25:53No. Is corruption linked to drug trafficking now one of Belgium's biggest internal threats? Yes. Yes.
26:02Okay. That word of the narco state by that judge. I think we are not a narco state, but corruption
26:09exists,
26:09depends also of drugs. Do you trust your opponent's party to solve this crisis? No. Yes.
26:18All right. Was there anything your opponent said over the past half hour that you agree with? For sure.
26:24I'm sure. You know, in Belgium, you are not agree alone. It's always the same. That's what we love about
26:29this country. Yeah.
26:30Uh, yes. Yeah. What was it? I think, um, I know Philip Glose as a social Democrat and his policies,
26:38um, I think as a mayor, he is, he tries to be tough on law and tough on police. And,
26:45and I think this is very public
26:47about it. And I, I, in many ways today I heard the same. So I agree with that. Yes. Okay.
26:51One word to, but I'm sure. And Mattias is always ready, always to building bridge between Brussels and
26:57other level to convince also the level that Brussels is not only a, a hell hole, as Trent says, but
27:04they
27:04are always issue that we can build together. Okay. Fantastic. On that note, this final answer brings
27:10us to the end of the special edition of the ring. Thanks again to Philip Glose. Thank you very much.
27:15Matthias Hannenbauer for a lively conversation. Thanks to our audience at home. If you like,
27:20you can continue the conversation by sending us your comments to the ring at your news.com. We'd love
27:26to have your feedback. That's it for today. I'm Stefan Grobe. Take care and see you soon on your news.
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