Brussels is bursting out of its borders. That’s serving to the rise of the precise.

Speaking Dutch is central to this, van den Broeck believes. “Dutch is a part of our DNA” as Flemish individuals, he mentioned.

Migration drives shifts

“Brussels has all the time been a multilingual metropolis as a result of it’s centered on the border between the Roman- and the German-speaking territories,” defined VUB researcher Saeys.

Waves of migration after World War II contributed to creating Belgium — and Brussels particularly — extra multicultural. The first two had been when Belgium introduced in migrant staff,  from the Mediterranean after which the Maghreb, to work within the mines.

The third and most up-to-date occurred when Brussels grew to become the capital of the European Union. This not solely drew migrants from Eastern Europe, particularly after the EU’s eastward expansions, but additionally different expats. They sought work within the EU establishments and related nongovernmental organizations, assume tanks, consultancies — in different phrases, the so-called Brussels bubble.

The survey of languages within the Belgian capital, which polled 2,500 households in Brussels, additionally displays rising linguistic variety: The total variety of languages spoken has gone up from 72 in 2001, to 104 in 2024.

“Brussels grows primarily because of internationalization,” Saeys mentioned. “At this level, 75 % of the individuals who stay in Brussels have a overseas origin.”