2025: Belgium's year in headlines
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From strikes, drones and gun crime to record-breaking government negotiations - we look back at some of the year's top stories in Belgium.
January
Belgium’s year started as it ended: with a major strike. Unhappiness with plans for pension reform hit education, transport and the prison service. Strikes would continue throughout 2025.
Both the men’s and women’s national football teams appointed new coaches, while Brussels art museum MIMA was forced to close and the Belgian branches of US company Tupperware were declared bankrupt.
“We were still making plans for the future, but the road leading to the MIMA being at risk of collapsing into the canal has forced the museum to close”
February
Belgium finally had a new government, eight months after the elections. Bart De Wever was chosen as the country’s first Flemish nationalist prime minister. His cabinet was criticised for the lack of women, and unions described the government agreement as “a declaration of war” against workers.
In Brussels, government negotiations would continue all year, without a result.
With shootings in the capital still high on the agenda, the caretaker government planned to step up police presence on the streets. Following a shooting in Anderlecht – presumed to be linked to the drugs trade – a hunt for a man armed with an automatic rifle in a metro tunnel disrupted public transport.
March
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited Brussels, where Bart De Wever assured him of Belgium’s continued support in defending his country against Russia.
Plans were mooted to turn the defunct Audi Brussels manufacturing site into a defence factory, and an investigation began after the wife of a Goodyear CEO was murdered at her home in Woluwe Saint-Pierre.
“I am obviously not a geopolitical expert, but if an arms factory is built in the Forest area, it will also bring enormous risks for Brussels”
Meanwhile, faced with the threat of increased US import tariffs, Flemish brewers sped up their exports ahead of schedule.
April
There was widespread outrage after a medical student was spared any punishment despite being found guilty of raping a fellow student.
The government’s Easter Agreement promised record spending on defence, while the royal couple and the prime minister attended the funeral of Pope Francis and, the following month, the inauguration of his successor, Pope Leo.
“The Brabant Killers were more than a series of robberies; it was an attack on the rule of law”
The investigation into the notorious Brabant Killers gang had a new lead, acting on information that wasn’t followed up in 1985. Forty years on from the killings, families remembered the victims in Aalst.
Elsewhere, the Menin Gate war memorial in Ypres reopened after two years of renovations.
May
It emerged that 37 women had conceived children using sperm from a single donor, far exceeding Belgium’s legal limit of six. The man carries a rare cancer-causing gene that was not detected during screening, and it was later found that almost 200 babies across Europe had been conceived using his sperm.
The Chamber of Representatives voted to repeal a 2003 law setting out plans to phase out nuclear power. Soon after, the Tihange 3 reactor was restarted after more than three months of maintenance. It will continue to supply electricity for another 10 years.
“It is no longer a question of pitting energy sources against each other in a binary and sterile way, but of using them pragmatically and complementarily”
In sport, Union Saint-Gilloise won their first top-flight title in 90 years and followed it up with a win in their debut Champions League match. Gymnast Nina Derwael claimed two gold medals at the European Gymnastics Championships before announcing her retirement at the height of her career.
June
The National Bank sounded the alarm over Belgium’s budget deficit and the government cancelled the next stage of construction of the Princess Elisabeth energy island being built in the North Sea. The estimated cost had risen from 2.12 billion euros in 2021 to between 7 and 8 billion euros now.
“The government is opting for sound management for a secure energy future”
Tennis player Elise Mertens took the Wimbledon doubles crown for the second time, while the Belgian Cats basketball team successfully defended their European title.
In Brussels, an officer was charged after an 11-year-old boy, Fabian, was fatally hit by a police car during a pursuit through a park. The police and justice system came under continued scrutiny through the year.
July
A plan to merge Brussels’ six police zones got the green light as the region tried to get on top of rising drug-related violence, and Bart De Wever marked his first National Day as prime minister by unveiling “unprecedented” socioeconomic reforms. The response was mixed.
A warehouse in Geel became the focus of attention when it emerged that millions of dollars of contraceptives being stored there were to be destroyed instead of being sent to developing countries following the dismantling of the USAID programme.
“What this government is doing in less than six months is unprecedented in Belgium in this century”
The government agreed to relax the rules on shop opening hours, with all shops now being allowed to open until 21:00 every day. The cost of applying for Belgian citizenship was increased to 1,000 euros, and the main stage at dance music festival Tomorrowland was destroyed by fire shortly before it was due to open.
August
Heptathlete Nafi Thiam made a comeback at the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, a year since winning her third Olympic gold in Paris.
Health authorities investigated a serious outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli at several nursing homes after four deaths thought to be linked to the disease, and two Russian men were extradited from Poland on suspicion of murdering a 56-year-old man in Zeebrugge.
September
As pro-Palestine protests continued in Brussels, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Belgium’s decision to conditionally recognise Palestine, calling Bart De Wever “a weak leader”. Flanders Festival Gent sparked international controversy after organisers cancelled a performance led by Israeli conductor Lahav Shani.
Nafi Thiam withdrew early from the heptathlon at the World Championships, after disagreements with the Belgian athletics federation over issues including sponsorship and a code of conduct left one of the country’s greatest athletes unable to train properly. The fallout continues.
“This is top-level sports; this is elite. This is the story of a very small country with a very big athlete, and look how it ends”
The question of using Russian assets held in Brussels for a loan for Ukraine began to take hold, with Bart De Wever saying the funds would never be used for such a loan – a position that was put to the test at an EU summit shortly before Christmas.
Meanwhile, Prince Laurent – the brother of King Philippe – publicly acknowledged for the first time that he had a 25-year-old son from an affair.
October
Marathon negotiations failed to deliver an agreement on the federal budget, while the Flemish government announced a major revamp of its museums and Virgin Trains took a big step forwards in its plans to run cross-Channel services to rival Eurostar.
Trade tariffs introduced by the US government were estimated to make Belgian exports 4 billion dollars more expensive, and the Catholic Church attempted to make reparations to victims of sexual abuse.
November
November’s headlines were dominated by drones. After a series of sightings over the Kleine-Brogel airbase, considered to be the work of Russia, the army were authorised to shoot down devices. Drones were also seen over Brussels Airport, disrupting passenger flights.
Belgian construction company Besix had a busy month, with the opening of the landmark Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo and putting the finishing touches to the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
December
While the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia chose to boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest over the inclusion of Israel, Belgium confirmed that it would take part. Francophone broadcaster RTBF will select Belgium’s act and both it and the Flemish VRT will broadcast the competition.
“The extreme overcrowding and the growing number of prisoners sleeping on the floor underline the need for immediate structural measures”
The issue of prison overcrowding was never far from the headlines. By December, more than 600 detainees were sleeping on the floor of cells due to lack of space.
As 2025 drew to a close, two major issues were on the table at the final EU summit of the year: financing support for Ukraine and signing the Mercosur trade deal. President Zelensky welcomed the decision to raise a 90 billion euro loan – without using Russian assets held in Belgium – while farmers made clear their continuing objection to the Mercosur agreement.
And a year and a half since voters went to the polls, Brussels remains without a government. At the beginning of December, it equalled the world record for negotiations – beating the record of 541 days set by Belgium’s federal government in 2011.
Bart De Wever with the leaders of Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Poland at an EU summit in Brussels, 18 December 2025 © PHOTO ANP JONAS ROOSENS
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