All of the 285 municipalities in Flanders are now signed up to the BE-Alert warning system. In a statement released on Tuesday, the National Crisis Centre that in Belgium as a whole 537 out of 565 now use the BE-Alert platform. This means that 95% of the country is currently covered by BE-Alert. Municipalities that use BE-Alert are able to warn residents and visitors in the event of an emergency. BE-Alert transmits warning messages via various channels, include SMS text messages.
The BE-Alert system was launched in 2017 around about a year after the terrorist attacks at Zaventem Airport and in the Brussels metro. The National Crisis Centre notes that BE-Alert has evolved considerably since its creation.
There have been numerous adjustments and technical improvements, such as the complete automation of geolocated text messages and the possibility of broadcasting messages via information screens.er to test the system.
All of Flanders covered
All Flemish municipalities have signed up to BE-Alert, as have all the 19 municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region. In Wallonia, 233 out of 261 municipalities (89.3%) have signed up. The Walloon municipalities that are not yet integrated into the system include Ans (Liège Province), Chimay and Dinant (both Namur Province).
The National Crisis Centre says that “We are actively working with the remaining municipalities so that we can achieve national coverage”.
On 1 September 2025, the National Crisis Centre had 1,369,659 people that are registered with BE-Alert. They receive messages via email, text message or telephone. Since its launch eight years ago, the system has been used 273 times, to alert the public to possible danger, to call for vigilance or in order to test the system.