Belgian antique dealers demand the return of a cell dedicated to the police: “We are the shame of Europe”
The Sablon antique dealers want the “art and antiques” section of the police to be reinstated. “I disagree when people say that Belgium is the hub of traffic,” says the president of the corporation.
By Louis Colart
Dhe legal instructions targeting the Sablon antiques community, a journalistic investigation between Brussels and Beirut in Paris Match Belgium and propose vitriol from the FPS Economy in the Tijd and The Echo recently: once again Belgium has been singled out as a crossroads for the illicit trafficking of cultural and archaeological property. In this context, the disappearance of the “art and antiquities” unit of the federal police, decided upon under the previous government and which became effective at the beginning of the year, is a stain. Even the sector regrets it, like the president of the Royal Chamber of Antique Dealers of Belgium, Patrick Mestdagh (54 years old). Maintenance.
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