The incident took place in Beja, about 170 kilometers southeast of the capital Lisbon. Belgian soldiers from the Fifteenth Wing from Melsbroek are on training there. On Friday evening they went out to the café.
It was a long evening and at 5:32 in the morning things went wrong. According to the Portuguese media, a row broke out between the Belgians and Portuguese young people. A fight broke out and at least one Belgian soldier was stabbed in the abdomen with a sharp object. It may have been a knife.
Always polite
“There were a lot of people in the cafe,” says bar owner Marco Pinto. “The group of Belgians had already passed a few times. They had a lot of beer, but it was still fun. They were polite, well-behaved and certainly not aggressive. Never. At one point they went outside and were immediately attacked by guys I don’t know myself. They are marginals from the street, I was told.”
“The Portuguese young people were looking for them for some reason,” says another customer of the bar. “Afterwards someone told me that one of the Belgians had laughed with a girl, but we certainly didn’t notice anything. I think it was the Portuguese who started the fight.”
“They had a lot of beer, but it was still fun. They were polite, well-behaved and certainly not aggressive”
Marco Pinto
Owner of the bar in Beja
The Portuguese youth fled after the fact. The Portuguese police have already started an investigation for attempted murder. The Belgian victim (27) was taken to hospital. But it was allowed to leave after care. Four other Belgian soldiers were also taken to hospital with minor injuries. It concerns three men and a woman (all between 27 and 53 years old).
“The five are in good health,” Defense said. “The Belgian military police and the Portuguese police have opened an investigation.” The Belgian soldiers, mainly technicians, were there to prepare an exercise with paratroopers.
Hierarchy fades
It is not the first time that Belgian soldiers have been discredited abroad. A similar incident took place in Norway in mid-February. Then four Belgian soldiers were arrested after a fight with local residents in a café in Åndalsnes. The soldiers were part of the 2nd Battalion Commando from Flawinne (Namur) and took part in the ‘Exercise Arctic Training’, organized by the Special Operations Regiment. The investigation has now ended. Four Belgian soldiers will have to appear before the Norwegian court later this year.
Yves Huwart, leader of the ACMP union, states that such incidents happen more often, even in the past. “But it is striking now. I think that a leadership that sets clear boundaries is somewhat lacking in our army these days. We only have a small army where everyone is overloaded with tasks and within which the hierarchy is somewhat blurred. This means there is less internal control. It is an issue that the military needs to work on.”
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