Brussels descended into chaos on New Year’s Eve, when rioters threw Molotov cocktails at Belgian emergency services and set vehicles on fire. Police made dozens of arrests, according to local officials, media reports and videos on social media.
Authorities reported 159 arrests on Wednesday during overnight riots, in which at least 60 vehicles were set on fire in Brussels, the headquarters of the EU Commission and NATO.
“It was really crazy” Walter Derieuw, spokesman for the Brussels Fire Department, told Politico. “We were there to help and they threw Molotov cocktails at us.”
Youth gangs in Molenbeek, the worst prohibited area in Brussels, used Molotov cocktails to attack police and fireworks to attack firefighters on New Year’s Eve pic.twitter.com/duBkonWIj6
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) January 2, 2025
Videos shared on social media show young people dressed in black damaging emergency services vehicles, hitting them with sticks and throwing incendiary devices, while throwing fireworks at police.
The districts of Molenbeek and Anderlecht, widely considered no-go zones and crime hotspots, were the epicenters of the disorder. Molenbeek has gained notoriety in recent years, with former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel saying at one point: “Almost every time there is a terrorist attack, there is a link to Molenbeek.” He was referring at the time to media reports that Islamist extremists who organized the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris in 2015 were obtaining their weapons in the district.
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The New Year’s Eve riots occurred despite the implementation of additional measures to ensure safety during the celebrations, including increased police and fire presence. The Anderlecht authorities also imposed a night curfew for those under 16 years of age on New Year’s Eve to “protect young people.”
Brussels is one of the most dangerous cities in Europe, ranking 18th in the crime index, according to the Numbeo database.
According to official figures, almost 18% of the population living in Belgium is foreign-born, a figure that reaches 46% in the capital region. The country has recently experienced another spike in immigration, partly caused by the Ukraine conflict, with 233,000 and 194,000 new immigrants registered in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
