Quintin defends federal drugs strategy after six Brussels shootings in four days
Federal Security and Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said on Tuesday that six recent shootings across Brussels showed why Belgium must sustain its campaign against organised drug crime, as local leaders and opposition parties demanded more police resources…
In 30 seconds
- Six shootings were reported across Brussels between Friday and Monday.
- No one was injured in Monday evening’s shooting at Place des Deux Bancs in Saint-Gilles.
- Federal police counted 57 Brussels shootings, two deaths and 21 injuries in January-July 2026.
- The Chamber approved the merger of Brussels’ six police zones in May 2026.
Federal Security and Interior Minister on Tuesday, 25 August, defended the federal response to organised drug crime after six shootings were reported across in four days, including a burst of gunfire in on Monday evening. Quintin called the violence “totally unacceptable” but told VRT Radio 1 that the pressure on criminal networks was producing results and must continue. No one was injured in Monday evening’s attack, while the possible connections among the recent incidents remain under investigation.
The latest shots were fired at about 9pm at Place des Deux Bancs in Saint-Gilles, where a gunman reportedly used an automatic weapon before fleeing. According to The Brussels Times, customers in a nearby pizzeria had to lie on the floor. The same square had already been targeted on Saturday, when a man suffered a non-life-threatening leg injury. A separate bullet entered a woman’s bedroom near Porte de Hal on Sunday morning without hitting her.
Other incidents widened the concern beyond one neighbourhood. BRUZZ reported shootings in Saint-Gilles and Molenbeek during the night from Sunday to Monday, leaving two people injured; two suspects were detained near the Saint-Gilles scene. On Friday night, masked assailants fired at a Brussels-South police station in and escaped on scooters. Investigators have not publicly established whether the attack on the station, the shootings and several recent vehicle fires form part of the same dispute.
Quintin’s central argument is that the violence may reflect disruption within the drug economy rather than failure of the enforcement campaign. “This shows that it works, and we must continue,” he told Radio 1, while acknowledging that the effort would take time. That interpretation remains a political assessment, not a conclusion announced by the Brussels public prosecutor. The criminal investigations will have to determine the motives, targets and relationships between suspects before the recent sequence can reliably be described as one conflict.
The minister also rejected claims that Brussels receives less federal investigative support than Antwerp. Jean Spinette, the Socialist Party mayor of Saint-Gilles, has called for about 80 additional officers and argued that the capital should receive resources comparable to those assigned to Antwerp’s fight against narcotics trafficking. Quintin said he had already strengthened the Brussels Federal Judicial Police, although neither his radio remarks nor the initial reports provided a directly comparable staffing breakdown for the two cities.
The dispute illustrates Belgium’s divided security architecture. Local police conduct neighbourhood patrols and first-line interventions under municipal oversight, while the Federal Judicial Police investigates serious and organised crime. Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden is responsible for the justice-policy side of the federal response, including prosecution and prison-related measures. The Brussels-Capital Region can coordinate prevention and regional security policy, but it does not command the federal investigators or replace the authority of the 19 mayors over local policing.
Quintin also pointed to a practical dispute over surveillance cameras. He said the federal government had made €1 million available for new cameras in the Brussels-South police zone, but that local complications involving trees could delay replacement work for as long as two years. His appeal to stop “pointing fingers” was therefore also a demand that municipal and regional authorities carry out measures within their own competences. For residents, however, arguments over which level controls which budget offer little reassurance when bullets reach homes and businesses.
The figures explain the political pressure. data reported by VRT NWS and other Belgian outlets recorded 57 shootings in the 19 Brussels municipalities during the first seven months of 2026, with two deaths and 21 people injured. VRT previously reported that Brussels recorded roughly 90 shooting files in 2024, nine deaths and dozens of injuries. Definitions can vary between police datasets and news tallies, so year-to-year comparisons should be treated carefully, but the sustained level of firearm violence is not in dispute.
The federal government led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever has made institutional reform part of its answer. Parliament approved legislation in May to combine Brussels’ six local police zones into one structure, with implementation targeted for 1 January 2028. Quintin argues that one command structure will make it easier to move personnel, share intelligence and eliminate duplicated services. Several Brussels mayors, including Christian Lamouline of Les Engagés and Charles Spaepens of the PS, have challenged the reform before the , warning that smaller municipalities could lose influence and that neighbourhood policing might become more remote.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →That creates several distinct political frames. Quintin and the federal coalition emphasise enforcement, coordination and structural reform. Spinette and Brussels PS figures argue that immediate staffing and investigative capacity matter more than federal assurances. takes a harder opposition line, with MP Ortwin Depoortere demanding that the Chamber’s Interior Committee examine what he calls broken government promises. Meanwhile, local mayors resisting the zone merger say centralisation should not be confused with additional officers on the street.
Quintin was expected to visit the Anderlecht police station on Tuesday and said he remained available to the Chamber’s Interior Committee. The PS and Vlaams Belang have both requested parliamentary hearings, potentially involving Quintin and Verlinden. The next meaningful tests will be whether investigators can connect or separate the six incidents, whether promised federal reinforcements are visible in official staffing figures, and whether the authorities can reduce shootings without simply displacing dealing and violence into neighbouring districts.
What to do
Brussels residents should follow instructions and local updates from their police zone if an incident or cordon affects their street, and report urgent danger through the emergency services. No new public restrictions, charges or individual legal obligations were announced in the article. The concrete decisions to watch are parliamentary scrutiny requested by PS and Vlaams Belang, deployment of additional federal or local police resources, and implementation of the police-zone merger approved by the Chamber in May 2026. Residents of affected streets may encounter temporary investigation perimeters or increased patrols.
Impact
Regional — The incidents affect several municipalities and two local police zones, exposing the difficulty of coordinating an urban security response across Brussels’ 19 municipalities while the federal government prepares to replace six police zones with one.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsQuintin and the federal coalition
Quintin presents the violence as evidence that pressure on organised drug networks must be maintained. His preferred response combines stronger federal investigations, surveillance technology and the compulsory merger of Brussels’ six police zones into one command structure.
Jean Spinette and the Brussels PS
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette and Brussels PS figures argue that the capital needs additional officers and investigative capacity now. They question whether announced reinforcements match the scale of the violence and want Quintin and Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden questioned in parliament.
Brussels mayors opposing the merger
Mayors including Christian Lamouline and Charles Spaepens contend that centralising the six zones could weaken municipal influence and neighbourhood policing. Their legal challenge separates the question of organisational reform from the more immediate demand for extra personnel.
Vlaams Belang parliamentary opposition
Interior Committee chair Ortwin Depoortere frames the shootings as evidence of unfulfilled government promises and wants the committee convened. This approach places responsibility primarily on the federal coalition rather than on fragmented municipal administration.
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