The closure between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. applies to the area around Bruxelles-Nord/Brussel-Noord, which has long been notorious for drug dealing and prostitution. Now the local government is testing the same kind of closure that was recently introduced in part of Antwerp.
It was high time to act to make the nights calmer and more peaceful for residents, said Martin de Brabant, mayor of the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek, according to Belgian television channel RTBF.
Brussels has seen an increase in shootings in recent years, linked to a long-running fight over drug trafficking between criminal gangs from Antwerp and Marseille, France.
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