Flemish government launches new English website on Brussels for expats

Sven Gatz, Flemish minister for Brussels affairs, has produced a new magazine and website aimed at expats, which describes the benefits of living, studying and working in the capital. Bruzine.be is available in English, Dutch and French.

There will be just one issue of the printed magazine, but the website will be updated regularly, said Gatz. Bruzine introduces readers to the capital’s neighbourhoods, options for continuing education, cultural offerings and wellness as well as provides statistics and an introduction to some of the expats and locals living there.

It also is a reminder that Brussels is the capital of Flanders as well as of Belgium. Copies of the magazine are available at Muntpunt and being sent to schools and libraries throughout Brussels and Flanders. It is also available to order or download on the website.

The publication is mainly aimed at expats, Gatz said, but also at Flemish people who may be reticent about discovering their own capital. “Bruzine maps out the whole Flemish-Brussels network in a clear and practical way,” he said.

The idea for the project, he said, arose from the recent citizens’ cabinet on Brussels matters.

Gatz announced Bruzine during last week’s Away Day, an annual event that sees all the ministers in the Flemish government gather together for a meeting and activity at the start of the new parliamentary year.

This year’s gathering, chaired by Gatz, took place at the Karreveld Castle in Molenbeek, together with the municipality’s mayor, Françoise Schepmans. After the meeting, the ministers visited the Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (Mima), also in Molenbeek.