The American embassy’s celebration of the country’s independence anniversary on 28 June will mean up to 11 days of identity checks in and around Cinquantenaire Park. The City of Brussels has issued a police order granting the US embassy permission to secure a closed perimeter around the park from 8.00 on 21 June to 22.00 on 2 July, Bruzz reports. The security checks will take place in the park itself “and at all entrances and exits to the area where the activities are taking place”,
according to the police order. The US embassy will hire a private security firm for this purpose. “It’s a Belgian company that usually manages major events in Brussels,” the office of Brussels mayor Philippe Close (PS) said. “It’s solely a matter of monitoring the set-up areas. This is standard practice at any major event, such as Couleur Café. All of this is regulated by federal law.” The park lies for the most part within the territory of Brussels-City, and partly within the territory of Etterbeek.
Etterbeek mayor Vincent De Wolf (MR) emphasised on social media in recent days that the park would not be fully closed for 10 days, but that crowd barriers would be erected from 22 June to set up the stage on the esplanade while the rest of the park will be accessible to the public. A full closure of the park “for security reasons” will only be in effect from the evening of 27 June until the end of the event on 28 June, which takes
place between 17.00 and 23.30. Access to the event will be via a designated checkpoint. The event has drawn sharp criticism, including from opposition party Ecolo-Groen Etterbeek which said that it had serious concerns about “the privatisation of Cinquantenaire Park by the US”. “The fundamental question remains: how can such a drastic occupation of a public park be organised without transparency, without effective local democratic control and without full information for residents?” the party said in a statement. “Who is carrying out the identity checks,
what exactly are they allowed to check, and how far does the perimeter extend? These are all questions to which we currently have no answers,” said Pieterjan Vanden Boer (Groen), a councillor in Etterbeek. Vanden Boer said that to his knowledge, there was no police order for the section of the park on Etterbeek’s territory. “However you look at it, identity checks still act as a deterrent to visiting the park, and one might ask whether this constitutes an invasion of privacy,” said Vanden Boer.
Activist and documentary-maker Monique Munting also wrote in an opinion piece in La Libre about “the temporary privatisation of a public space used by thousands of people every day” and expects “access restrictions, checks and searches, extensive security measures and security provided by an American private company”. Munting also referred to the implicit support the event conveys for the policies of US president Donald Trump. “Cinquantenaire Park is not a neutral place,” she wrote. “This iconic location celebrates Belgian independence and forms part of our
shared heritage. Located in the heart of the European Quarter, it also carries strong symbolic significance. “Claiming it for several days for a spectacular display of American prestige inevitably carries political significance.” An estimated 5,000 guests were invited, but attendance expectations have not been shared. A recent follow-up email to guests from organisers urging them to check their spam folders to ensure they received their invitation prompted speculation that a large number of invitees might not have accepted.
Cinquantenaire Park, identity checks, US embassy, Brussels, independence anniversary, Philippe Close, Vincent De Wolf, Ecolo-Groen Etterbeek, Pieterjan Vanden Boer, Monique Munting