Interior Minister Pieter De Crem (CD&V) announced on Friday that additional police reinforcements were planned for this weekend at the Coast and in the country’s major stations, following the clashes last week, especially in Blankenberge. These events, which in the meantime led to “four judicial arrests and 17 administrative arrests”, had created a wave of criticism from the local authorities towards the SNCB and the federal government, accused of letting the local mayors manage. all alone the problems related to the affluence in times of high heat and coronavirus. During the week, the minister had already clarified his way of thinking during an exchange of views in the Interior Committee, in the Chamber. He had in particular cited the police reinforcements already planned and active at the Coast, sufficient according to him, referring the “trains” component to the competent minister François Bellot. He also spoke out against local initiatives to prevent day tourists from reaching the most popular seaside resorts. Pieter De Crem, on the other hand, proposes to set up the possibility of a place ban targeting the entire Coast for those who would be sanctioned for violence or non-compliance with Covid measures.
For this weekend of August 15, police reinforcements have nevertheless been planned, in addition to those who are usually mobilized each summer for the Coast, in order to maintain calm. The minister speaks of an “increased police presence of 125 staff on Saturday and 115 staff on Sunday, spread over the Coast, other high-traffic places in the country and nodes such as stations. Additional sections will be mobilized in stations of Brussels, Ghent-Saint-Pierre, Bruges, Ostende, Blankenberge, De Panne and Knokke “.
While thanking the police for their work, the Minister concludes that any act of violence towards him or towards the relief workers, as had been observed in Blankenberge, will be punished “in a proportional and correct manner”.
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