Dilliès convenes Brussels security council after renewed drug violence
Brussels Minister-President Boris Dilliès has called the Regional Security Council together on Wednesday evening after several days of shootings across the capital, seeking additional personnel, equipment and sustained coordination against drug-related…
In 30 seconds
- Dilliès called the Regional Security Council for the evening of 26 August 2026.
- All 19 Brussels mayors and senior federal, judicial and police officials were invited.
- Federal police recorded 57 Brussels shootings in the first seven months of 2026, according to BRUZZ.
- The Region says €68 million has been released for security and prevention in 2026.
Minister-President convened the Regional Security Council for Wednesday evening, 26 August, after several days of shootings across the capital. His office said the emergency meeting would seek more personnel and equipment on the ground and stronger long-term coordination among regional, local and federal authorities. No new operational package had been announced by the time the meeting was called, and its proposed 18:00 start time and venue were still subject to confirmation.
Federal Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil, National Drugs Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch and representatives of the affected police zones were due to participate, according to BX1 and BRUZZ. All 19 Brussels mayors were invited. That broad attendance matters because no single Brussels institution commands the entire response: the Region coordinates prevention and security policy, the mayors and six local police zones manage much of the policing on the streets, while criminal investigation, prosecution, prisons, customs and important parts of police funding fall under federal responsibility.
Dilliès, a member of the liberal MR party, said the authorities must attack trafficking at its roots rather than conduct a one-off operation. His office presented the council as an attempt to reinforce measures already taken in recent weeks. These include the release of €68 million for security and prevention in 2026 and the recruitment of a regional drugs commissioner, who is expected to begin work at the end of September and coordinate a comprehensive Brussels strategy. The government has also decided to end shared electric-scooter services from 1 January 2027, citing their reported use as getaway vehicles among its reasons.
The immediate pressure comes from a concentrated sequence of gun incidents. BRUZZ reported that six shootings had occurred in the Brussels-Capital Region since Friday, 21 August, including incidents in , and Molenbeek. One attack targeted a police station in Anderlecht, prompting Dilliès to describe the violence as an escalation and warn against allowing organised crime to take control of parts of the city. Judicial investigations must still establish the circumstances and any drug-market connection in each individual case; the political response should not be read as a finding that every shooting had the same cause.
The latest violence sits within a longer and measurable deterioration. figures reported by BRUZZ recorded 57 shootings in Brussels during the first seven months of 2026, leaving two people dead and 21 injured. There were 101 shootings in the whole of 2025, with eight deaths and 43 injuries. Those totals cover firearms incidents more broadly, and suspected links to drug trafficking are not judicially established in every case, but they explain why another emergency council is politically significant rather than merely symbolic.
Brussels has tried this coordination model before. Under Dilliès's predecessor, Rudi Vervoort, the Regional Security Council approved a strategy in early 2024 built around security, prevention and neighbourhood life. Fifteen priority hotspots were initially identified through police analysis and local consultation, including Clemenceau, Peterbos, the North and South stations, Porte de Hal and several canal-area locations. Measures included more intensive checks and locally applicable restrictions on alcohol, nitrous oxide and objects associated with drug use. The persistence and displacement of violence have nevertheless raised questions about implementation, staffing and whether short-term hotspot enforcement can dismantle the criminal organisations behind retail markets.
The institutional difficulty is structural. The Sixth State Reform gave the Brussels Region greater responsibility for coordinating prevention and security through safe.brussels, but the Region did not acquire control over prosecutors, prisons, customs, the federal judicial police or the six local police zones. Safe.brussels can prepare the regional security plan, monitor crime patterns, coordinate prevention and supervise police-zone budgets, yet investigations and prosecutions remain judicial and federal functions. The council can align those actors and assign follow-up work; it cannot replace their separate legal powers.
Two political frames are now competing within that shared system. Dilliès and the federal government emphasise additional enforcement capacity, administrative action and coordination across institutional boundaries. Federal Justice Minister argued in an official statement on 23 August that police, prosecutors and security services need sustained investment, while also insisting that there is no simple solution to adaptable, cross-border criminal networks. She paired repression with action on housing, education, school dropout and youth opportunities.
The mayors of Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht and Forest have put greater emphasis on federal responsibility. They called for a national action plan, including stronger customs controls at the Port of Antwerp, better-resourced police and justice services and measures preventing imprisoned crime bosses from directing violence from their cells. The federal opposition PS separately requested meetings of the Chamber's Justice and Interior committees. Although the PS also participates in the Brussels coalition, this frame argues that municipal and regional tools cannot compensate for weaknesses higher up the enforcement chain.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →A further debate concerns technology. Dilliès has advocated equipping the most exposed police services with drones, and BRUZZ reported that the regional government and safe.brussels are working towards possible deployment at major drug hotspots by the end of 2027. Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette and other opponents have warned against creating indiscriminate surveillance of residents. That dispute is not a choice between security and inaction: it concerns the legal basis, necessity, targeting and oversight of any airborne monitoring.
The council's credibility will therefore depend on what follows the meeting. Residents and frontline officers will look for concrete staffing commitments, clearer responsibility for hotspot operations and a timetable for the regional drugs commissioner. Parliament will scrutinise whether the €68 million represents genuinely additional capacity and how it is divided between prevention and enforcement. The central unknown is whether the participating governments can move from recurring crisis consultations to a durable command and accountability structure without blurring the legal division between regional coordination, local policing and federal justice.
What to do
Brussels residents should watch for decisions announced after the 26 August council meeting, especially any named neighbourhood operations, additional patrols, surveillance measures or changes affecting access to public spaces. People living or working in Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht, Molenbeek and known drug hotspots may notice the earliest operational changes. No new cost, legal duty or application process for residents has been announced in the article. The next concrete date is the end of September 2026, when the regional drugs commissioner is expected to begin coordinating the strategy. Emergency incidents should still be reported through existing police channels.
Impact
Regional — The response could alter policing, prevention work and surveillance in affected Brussels neighbourhoods, particularly in Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht, Molenbeek and established drug hotspots. All 19 mayors were invited because enforcement in one municipality can displace activity into another.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsDilliès and the federal governing coalition
The regional minister-president and federal ministers frame the response around stronger operational capacity, administrative enforcement and coordination. Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden also argues that repression must be paired with housing, education, integration and youth policy because police and courts intervene after underlying problems have developed.
Mayors of Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht and Forest
The three mayors place greater weight on federal action, calling for a national plan, reinforced customs controls at the Port of Antwerp, properly funded police and justice services, and measures preventing imprisoned crime bosses from directing violence. Their frame is that municipalities cannot dismantle national and international trafficking chains alone.
PS representatives seeking parliamentary scrutiny
The federal opposition PS wants the Chamber's Justice and Interior committees to examine the shootings and the wider enforcement chain. Although the party also belongs to the Brussels coalition, this position presses federal ministers to account publicly for police, customs, prison and judicial capacity.
Jean Spinette and privacy-focused opponents of drones
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette and other opponents of broad drone deployment question whether the technology could lead to disproportionate surveillance of residents. Their concern centres on legal authority, targeting, necessity and oversight, rather than rejecting policing at identified violence hotspots.
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