Federal funds allocated to ensure security in Brussels during European summits were spent on a trip to Disneyland, rubbish bags, laundry services and public toilets, Brussels Signal reports, citing Belgian Liberal MP Denis Ducarme.
The report said Ducarme claimed that since 2012, the Brussels-Capital Region has received €55 million ($63 million) annually from the federal government to cover security-related costs associated with European events.
Since 2022, the European Summits Fund (Fonds des Sommets européens) has been divided, with €35 million ($40 million) allocated to police districts and €20 million ($23 million) to municipalities.
Following several letters from the Financial Inspectorate and warnings from senior officials, Ducarme made clear that a significant portion of the funds had failed to reach the streets to improve security. For example, in 2020, €828,000 ($950,000) was allocated to the Brussels Social Housing Corporation (SLRB). At the time, the Financial Inspectorate issued a notice regarding the decision, stating: “This expenditure can hardly be considered as falling within the category of expenditure related to the security of the European Summits in Brussels and expenditure on security.”
The same issue was later brought to the attention of Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden when the inspectorate reviewed funds allocated by royal decree for the establishment of a Brussels cybersecurity centre. €3 million ($3.4 million) was invested, but the centre was never built.
“Since 2022, the funds of the European Summits, the amounts devoted to the municipalities normally allocated to security and prevention would be used as a source of general funding for municipal expenditure, in particular to cover staff costs and miscellaneous costs,” Ducarme noted, citing confidential sources within local administrations.
He plans to seek hearings in the Interior Affairs Committee. In his view, the money could have been used to combat drug trafficking instead of what he described as “unacceptable” spending. Inspectorate documents list items including rubbish bags, sanitary equipment, and cleaning and maintenance supplies.
The documents also mention books, magazines and other materials “unmoved from prevention”, as well as delivery costs, taxes, late-payment penalties and bank charges.
The most controversial item is reportedly a trip to Disneyland. Other expenses included kitchen stoves, washing machines and vacuum cleaners, as well as the fitting out of a laundry facility intended to serve people held in isolation.
Other expenses with no apparent or direct connection to the purpose of the grant included vouchers issued by a local employment centre to pay for minor jobs, costs related to homework assistance centres, and clothing without an identifiable logo of the relevant service.
Ducarme described the spending as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
By Bakhtiyar Abbasov
