A Belgian lawmaker has shared a video, showing how he was chased and assaulted by a group of young men in Brussels
Mathias Vanden Borre, an MP for the New Flemish Alliance (NVA) party in the Belgian capital city, uploaded the video to his personal Twitter account on Tuesday evening.
“Just attacked, punched, and almost robbed while walking through Brussels,” he said, describing the assault as “cowardly”.
The video showed him being followed by a group of at least four young men through a social housing estate in Jette.
Vanden Borre can be repeatedly heard telling the men in French that he is a Brussels Member of Parliament and that they should leave him alone.
One of the men asks the lawmaker why he is filming, before approaching him abruptly as the camera cuts.
Brussels police have confirmed to Euronews that they were aware of the incident and are investigating.
“Our services were informed of the facts yesterday afternoon,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday, “an official report has been drawn up and an investigation is underway.”
The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, said on Twitter that he had immediately reached out to the MP after the incident and added that police had arrived “quickly” at the scene.
“This is unacceptable, Brussels must be safe for everyone,” Close tweeted.
The co-president of the green Ecolo party, Rajae Maouane, has also described the incident as “intolerable”.
Vanden Borre has expressed his thanks for the messages of support and reiterated his hope that the perpetrators will be punished.
“I will continue to denounce the insecurity problem in Brussels,” he added in a tweet on Wednesday.
The conservative centre-right NVA has campaigned regionally for Flanders’ independence and has previously taken a stance on policing and controlled immigration.
