The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close (PS), has proposed a new measure to fight against alcohol consumption in the center of Brussels.

The excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs as well as to mental health disorders are considered the main issues that are degrading the image of the pedestrian of the City. Therefore, he said to Le Soir and De Standaard that alcohol will be banned by the end of the year around the Stock Exchange (Bourse).

« We must deal with the problem, it is not possible to want a large public space and then note that people do not dare to go there », continues Philippe Close. Among those that are responsible for the nuisances there are « people in a state of permanent drunkenness, who are no longer masters of themselves, » admits the mayor.

The Socialist has thus announced a flagship measure: the prohibition to consume alcohol, between midnight and six o’clock in the morning, in an area of 500 meters around the Stock Exchange. People in a state of drunkenness that disturb public order will risk fines, seizure of drinks and even arrest.

However, the cafes will still be able to serve alcoholic drinks on their terraces, as well as the night-shops will continue to sell them. For the moment, this is a pilot measure. The mayor hopes that the regulation will come into force before the end of the year, or at the latest f not, at the beginning of next year.

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Brussels mayor Philippe Close and Town Planning councilor Ans Persoonshave approved an action plan to stop the development of illegal Airbnb in the city center.

Airbnb has become a business. In some cases, it is no longer an individual who rents his room – which was the basis of Airbnb spirit – but professionals who buy whole houses or several apartments and then rent them on tourist rental platforms. “Airbnbs […] are often run by professionals who buy a large number of properties and rent them through the site. Some neighborhoods are left with fewer and fewer apartments available to rent and the balance between residents and tourists is threatened”, Persoons continues.

The Brussels Region has around 7400 properties advertised on the Airbnb website. The City of Brussels is the most concerned commune with 2,200 properties. Moreover, the authorities say 1,600 of these properties are available exclusively through the site. In certain downtown neighborhoods, particularly those in the Grand Place, Bourse, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Géry and Dansaert, this proportion is creating competition for residential housing.

“We want to avoid becoming like Paris or Amsterdam, where the website is even more popular. We don’t want just tourists living in the city center. Brussels residents should still be able to find housing in any neighborhood at an affordable price”, says Ans Persoonss, adding that most Airbnb rentals are illegal and not in line with the Brussels ordinance on tourist accommodation.

Another problem is that Airbnb harms the urban network. Tourists are rarely aware of the days of trash pickup and leave their garbage in the streets anytime. In addition, Airbnb leads to a degradation of the social bond between neighbors but also between inhabitants and traders, as the College of the City of Brussels considers.

The City of Brussels has therefore approved an action plan to stem the uncontrolled development of tourist rentals. This plan aims to punish illegal tourist accommodation via a Control Cell and to tax accommodation as unoccupied property.

“We want to put pressure on homeowners to put their property on the conventional rental market. By increasing the controls, we want to put back 1,000 dwellings on the rental market by the end of the legislature”, concludes the Town Planning councilor.

“We had a great victory a few weeks ago. The owner of a large building in the UNESCO area decided, because the pressure of the new tax for well vacant, to hand over 15 apartments that were rented on the Airbnb platform on the traditional rental market”, announced Philippe Close.

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As Van Rampelbergh stated: “The march has been banned for safety reasons.” In fact, a few days before the police of Brussels Capital and Ixelles area advised against the demonstration.

The main claim of the manifestation was the end of the cordon-sanitaire, the inter-party agreement between N-Va, CD&V, and Open Vld to refuse to collaborate with the far-right party Vlaams Belang (VB). According to the Dutch media,  the implication of the Bloed, Bodem-Eer en Trouw group, the Flemish nationalist faction of the international neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour, was suspected.

However, on Sunday the police will still be alert since the arrival of the protesters is not excluded. In fact, notwithstanding the mayor’s veto, after the original one was removed, a new event page on Facebook was created, and it already counts hundreds of people interested in participating.

The post Brussels mayor bans far-right « March on Brussels » scheduled for Sunday 15th appeared first on Brussels Express.

According to DH, the facts occurred shortly before 02:00 in the morning. A patrol was sent to control a fight in the neighborhood of Place Sainte-Catherine. Upon the arrival of the police, stones were thrown at them. One of the police officers is unable to work for a week. For Philippe Close, it is « unacceptable » that police are the object of projectile throwing.

Philippe Close asked the police force to make every effort to locate the perpetrators as quickly as possible.

« There will not be any impunity in Brussels and I won’t let it go unnoticed when someone dares to attack the forces of the order, whose job is to ensure the safety of our fellow citizens, » he said.

The post Brussels City Mayor perturbed: Two police officers injured at Place Sainte Catherine appeared first on Brussels Express.

Despite the shooting in Strasbourg, the morale of visitors in Brussels has not been affected.

Mayor Philippe Close announced the reinforcement of police teams around the entertainment of Winter Pleasures, and more specifically the Christmas Markets area.

Increased vigilance has been put in place and additional police teams have been assigned to patrol the area, in addition to the security measures which had been launched at the beginning of the Christmas Market.

The post After Strasbourg shootings the security measures at the Winter Pleasures in Brussels have been tightened appeared first on Brussels Express.

The demonstration has attracted 12,000 people who were ready to join the extreme-right in this movement.

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Rudi Vervoort as well as the mayor of the city of Brussels, Philippe Close have released a joint statement stating: « Following the Regional Security Council during which the mayor of the City of Brussels announced his intention to ban the event scheduled for Sunday in its territory and on the basis of operational information issued by the police zone Brussels-Capital Ixelles indicating that the event could spread to other areas, the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region will take a decree prohibiting any event on the entire territory of Brussels.« 

Bart Claes took off to social media to add: « We can do something as an organizer of the march against Marrakesh. We are currently thinking about further steps. Even a procedure with the Council of State is on sight. We will not leave it that way. There will be sequels. »

Similarly, press officer of KVHV Antwerp added: « We will still protest Sunday against the pact on migration of Marrakesh. » Justifying that they are basing themselves on the right to assemble and the right to freedom of opinion. They stressed on the fact that the goal is a peaceful demonstration without violence or confrontation with the police.

Rudi Vervoort calls it a ‘brown walk’

The Minister-President once again confirmed the ban of the event by stating that the protesters on Sunday will be in a breach.

Rudi Vervoort further justified the ban after the fears expressed by the city of Brussels. As information has been circulating on social media regarding the intent of some hooligans to cause trouble, Rudi responded: « I understand that Theo Francken and the N-VA distanced themselves. If that is so, I think the term ‘brown march’ makes sense. »

 

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A post shared by Leeuwen Vrienden (@leeuwenvrienden) on Nov 23, 2018 at 1:15am PST

The post Far-right movement Vlaams Belang to conduct March Against Marrakesh despite ban by Brussels Region appeared first on Brussels Express.

A number of right-wing organizations have announced that they are organizing a march against Marrakesh on Sunday, in order to protest against the UN Pact on Migration.

The requests for authorization have not yet been approved but they are being processed.

The final decision rests with the mayor or Brussels-City, Philippe Close.

The post Authorizations for a march against the UN Migration Pact as well as one supporting it have been requested to Brussels Mayor appeared first on Brussels Express.

Who are you, Philippe Close?

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