Police unions to file strike notice over border control dispute at Brussels Airport

Police unions ACV and NSPV plan to file a formal strike notice over concerns about the alleged relaxation of passport checks at Brussels Airport in Zaventem. The move follows claims that aviation police leadership has instructed officers to ease border controls under Article 9 of the Schengen Borders Code.

According to union representative Joery Dehaes (ACV), the directive misuses the article, which is intended for exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, as a structural policy. This, he argues, jeopardises passenger safety and undermines officers’ ability to properly screen travellers from non-Schengen countries.

Vlaams Belang first raised the alarm. The far-right party cited internal communications that reportedly urge staff to apply Article 9 “even preventively”. Dehaes confirmed the directive had already been implemented once this week: officers were instructed to limit checks to passport stamps and visual inspection, bypassing database searches for flagged individuals.

The federal police strongly denied these claims on Saturday and said that no official directive had been issued and that any such note was neither authorised by management nor backed by the chain of command.

Dehaes called the denial “unacceptable” and accused the federal police of disregarding frontline officers. 

The strike notice is expected to be filed on Sunday or Monday, after which negotiations with police leadership will begin. No date has yet been set for potential strike action.

^{A customs officer at Brussels Airport © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE}