Bilingualism among Brussels police on the decline

Bilingualism among Brussels police officers is on the decline, with 45.1% of officers able to express themselves in both French and Dutch, new figures have revealed.

Figures show that on 1 January 2026, exactly 3,008 of the 6,672 Brussels police officers were considered bilingual. In 2021, the percentage figure was 51.6%.

The statistics came to light following a parliamentary question from Barbara Pas, leader of the far-right Vlaams Belang group in the Chamber of Representatives.

Vlaams Belang highlighted the striking difference in proficiency in the two languages: 98.1% of Brussels’ police force are proficient in French, whilst only 46.9% speak Dutch.

“For Dutch-speakers, receiving service in their own language is increasingly a matter of luck,” said Pas.

“Flemish people who need to call on the police in our bilingual capital are now more likely not to be assisted in Dutch than to be.”

Vlaams Belang points to the recruitment process as the cause of the further decline of Dutch. For example, only 40 of the 292 new police officers recruited in Brussels in 2025 were native Dutch-speaking and only 8% of the new recruits held the required language certificate.

“If more than nine out of 10 new recruits are hired without a language certificate, it’s hardly surprising that bilingualism is continuing to erode,” said Pas, noting that communication can be of vital importance within the police and security services.

According to Vlaams Belang, a structural federal approach is needed, in particular effective monitoring of compliance with the language law in recruitment and appointments.

Pas announced that she intends to question interior minister Bernard Quintin (MR) on how he plans to reverse this downward spiral.

“In any case, the figures show that a few optional language courses are not making any difference,” Pas said.