Brussels municipal council has unanimously approved a motion declaring the Belgian capital an “anti-fascist city”.
The motion was approved on April 22 in light of May 8, the day the Second World War ended in 1945, after the national Socialists regime in Germany capitulated, Belgian news agency Belga reported.
Submitted by the Greens, the motion was welcomed by the Brussels city council, which included Socialists, Liberals, and Christian Democrats.
With this motion, the City of Brussels said it aimed to highlight its historical role in the fight against fascism and to reaffirm its commitment to that stance in the future.
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Greens city councillor Zoubida Jellab, who submitted the motion, said: “The ideas of the far-right are very much alive today.
“Whether in the US under [US President Donald] Trump, or here in Europe – in countries like Italy, Poland, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovakia, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and even here at home,” she was quoted by news outlet Belga as saying.
According to Jellab, Brussels has been reaffirming its position as a city that stood firmly against all forms of hatred, fascism, far-right extremism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia and the like.
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Brussels Mayor Philippe Close, of the Socialist Party (PS), said the approval of the motion was important “because as the capital of Europe, we are, in a way, in resistance today”.
“Not a single day goes by without us being shocked by statements coming out of the United States.”
He claimed the Brussels city council used to be far more right-leaning and that “no fascists have been elected in the city for the past 20 years”.
The Mayor expressed pride in the current council, “made up of people from all walks of life”.
“The most cosmopolitan city in Europe is once again setting an example,” he said, “because it doesn’t matter where you come from.
“What matters is what you build together.”
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