Events in the year 2018 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Incumbents

*Monarch: Philippe *Prime Minister:

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Michel became the minister of Developm ...

Events

;January * 1 January ** border change along the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

between Belgium and the Netherlands takes effect ** The entire

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

becomes a

low-emission zone A low-emission zone (LEZ) is a defined area where access by some polluting vehicles is restricted or deterred with the aim of improving air quality. This may favour vehicles such as bicycles, micromobility vehicles, (certain) alternative fuel veh ...

* 13 January —

Angeline Flor Pua Angeline Flor Pua (born 17 April 1995) is a Belgian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 2018. As Miss Belgium, she represented Belgium at Miss World 2018 and Miss Universe 2019. Life and career Early life Flor Pua wa ...

wins Miss Belgium 2018 ;February * 3 February — ''

Insyriated ''Insyriated'', released in some territories as ''In Syria'', is a 2017 Belgian drama film directed by Philippe Van Leeuw. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Panoroma Audience ...

'' wins in six categories at the

8th Magritte Awards The 8th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2017 in Belgium and took place on 3 February 2018 at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels, beginning at 8:45 p.m. CET ...

, including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

;March * 17 March —

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

wins 2018 Belgian Cup Final ;April * 1 April — 102nd Tour of Flanders * 18 April — 82nd Flèche Wallonne ;May * 17 May — 2-year-old Mawda Shawri killed by a police bullet * 29 May — Two police officers and a civilian bystander killed in 2018 Liège attack ;July * 2 July — A Belgian man and his

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian wife were arrested after plotting a bomb attack against a

Mujahedeen Khalq The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

rally in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. ;August * 31 August — Summer of 2018 is the hottest in almost 200 years ;October * 14 October –

Local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

;December * 5 December – Belgium's first recorded death by

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

: the 20-year-old

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

student Sanda Dia dies after taking part in the initiation ceremony for the subsequently disbanded

Reuzegom Reuzegom (established 1946) was a Flemish fraternity at KU Leuven, part of the Antwerp Guild of student societies (). It is known for a 2013 case of animal abuse and a 2018 case of psychological and physical abuse of three recruits that result ...

fraternity. * 9 December – a political crisis emerged over whether to sign the

Global Compact for Migration The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, that describes itself as covering "all dimensions of international migration Int ...

; in an N-VA u-turn the party opposed signing whereas the other three parties in government continued to support it. On 4 December the Prime Minister of Belgium,

, announced that the issue would be taken to parliament for a vote. On 5 December, parliament voted 106 to 36 in favor of backing the agreement. Michel stated that he would endorse the pact on behalf of the parliament, not on behalf of the divided government. Consequently, N-VA left the government; the other three parties continue as a minority government ( Michel II). * 16 December – More than 5,500 people marched in a protest against the

, organized by Flemish right-wing parties. A smaller counter-demonstration of around 1,000 people was organised by left-wing groups. * 18 December – Prime Minister

presented his government's resignation to the King, who accepted it a few days later.

Deaths

January

* 30 January:

Terry Van Ginderen Esther Van Ginderen-Verbeeck (8 September 1931 – 30 January 2018), also known as ''Tante Terry'' (Aunt Terry), was a Belgium, Belgian Flanders, Flemish-speaking television presenter and businesswoman. She was best known as a host of children's T ...

, aka ''Tante Terry'', 86, TV presenter ('' Kom Toch Eens Kijken'').

May

* 6 May:

Eric Geboers Eric Geboers (5 August 1962 – 6 May 2018) was a Belgian professional motocross racer and racing driver. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1980 to 1990, winning five world championships in eleven years. Geboers is notable fo ...

, 55, motorcross and racing driver. * 7 May:

Maurane Claudine Luypaerts, better known as Maurane (; 12 November 1960 – 7 May 2018), was a Francophone Belgian singer and actress. Brought to light in the 1980s with her role as Marie-Jeanne in the second version of the rock opera ''Starmania'', ...

, 57, pop singer and actress * 14 May:

William Vance William van Cutsem (8 September 1935 – 14 May 2018), better known by his pen name William Vance, was a Belgian comics artist known for his distinctive realistic style and work in Franco-Belgian comics. Biography William van Cutsem was born i ...

, 82, comics artist (''

Bruno Brazil ''Bruno Brazil'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series written by Greg, under the pseudonym Louis Albert, and drawn by William Vance. It was initially serialised in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Tintin'', first appearing on January 17, 1967. ...

'', ''

XIII XIII may refer to: * 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals * 13th century in Roman numerals * ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance ** ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a 2003 video game based on the comic b ...

'')

June

* 21 June:

Édouard-Jean Empain Édouard-Jean, 3rd Baron Empain (7 October 1937 – 21 June 2018) was a French-Belgian industrialist, best known by the general public for his kidnapping in 1978. Between 1969 and 1981, Baron Empain was CEO of the Schneider group ( Schneide ...

, 80, industrialist.

October

* 3 October:

Hugo Raspoet Hugo Raspoet (2 November 1940 – 3 October 2018) was a Flemish kleinkunst singer and guitarist. He is most famous for his signature song "Helena" (1970) and the controversial song " Evviva Il Papa" (1969), which was banned from the radio for crit ...

, 77, singer and guitarist (''

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

'', '' Evviva Il Papa''). * 5 October: Walter Capiau, 80, TV presenter. * 8 October: Eliane Liekendael, 90, magistrate.

December

* 3 December:

Albert Frère Albert, Baron Frère (4 February 1926 – 3 December 2018) was a Belgian billionaire businessman. Early life Frère grew up as a son of a nail merchant and helped in the business since an early age. His father died when Frère was 17; Frère ha ...

, 92, businessman. * 14 December:

Jean-Pierre Van Rossem Jean-Pierre Van Rossem (29 May 1945 – 13 December 2018) was a Belgian stock market guru, economist, econometrician, convicted fraudster, author, philosopher, public figure, politician, and member of the Belgian and Flemish Parliaments. Life ...

, 73, economist, politician and criminal. * 20 December'':

Raymond van Uytven Raymond van Uytven (Leuven, 1 February 1933 – Halle-Booienhoven, 20 December 2018) was a Belgian medievalist, a specialist in the economic and urban history of the medieval Duchy of Brabant, who was a professor at the University of Antwerp and th ...

, 85, academic historian

References

{{Year in Europe, 2018

2010s in Belgium Years of the 21st century in Belgium