Filip, King of Belgians, has delivered his annual speech to the nation on the occasion of the Belgian national holiday. It contained several clear messages from the government to the people of Belgium. The king’s address always has to be signed off by the federal government.
King Filip: “Focus on what unites us rather than what divides us” (VIDEO)
Colin Clapson
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The monarch spoke of the heatwave in June that cost so many lives and suggested by coming together the country could best face such challenges.
The king touched on the awkward state of Belgium’s public finances and said tax measures were needed. He also expressed confidence that the government would come up with a fair solution. King Filip recently toured Flanders and Wallonia. He noted a clear ambition both in the North and the South to get to know each other better and suggested labour mobility could ease unemployment.
The king touched on the unrest that has mainly gripped Francophone education in recent months and noted the role education plays in maintaining social cohesion. He expressed hope calm and mutual respect can return when pupils and students come back after the summer break.
The king expressed admiration for carers, particularly for those looking after people whose cognitive skills are going downhill, and wondered if we should not take a leaf out of their book and bring more humanity and tenderness to our society.
He also pointed to the exhibition at the royal palace about communicating with people with dementia.
King Filip identified poverty, climate change, the decline in biodiversity and the depletion of our natural resources as some of the main challenges facing us and said senseless wars should not be allowed to divert us from tackling these global challenges. This must be done in unity, while ensuring common rules are adhered to.
Watch highlights of HRH King Filip's address
Read the King’s National Day Address in Full
Speech by His Majesty the King on the occasion of the National Holiday
21 July 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,
In June, exceptionally early in the year, our country experienced a heatwave of unprecedented intensity and duration. We have all suffered as a result, but it is the most vulnerable who are once again paying the heaviest price: the elderly, those in precarious living conditions, and those who are entirely on their own.
This heatwave has claimed hundreds of lives – and medical staff and the emergency services have been put to the test.
The current climatic, geopolitical, technological and social upheavals pose a constant threat to our social cohesion. But it is precisely by joining forces that we can emerge stronger.
Our country faces major challenges in the area of public finances.
Fiscal measures are needed to reduce the budget deficit and manage our debt, against a backdrop of unpredictable interest rates and energy prices, and at a time when investment in our defence has become unavoidable.
I am convinced that our governments will be able to overcome these obstacles, through mutual consultation, and with socially just solutions.
During my recent visit, together with business leaders, to Flanders and Wallonia, I experienced just how strong the desire is to get to know one another better.
Those two days opened doors and forged new partnerships.
Representatives of the public employment services confirmed this to me afterwards, during a round-table discussion at the Palace: closer cooperation and greater labour mobility between regions can contribute to increased employment.
Education plays an often-underestimated role in maintaining social cohesion. But today, the school community is under enormous pressure.
Virtually all of society’s problems converge there and weigh more heavily than ever on the shoulders of our teachers.
I hope that, following the tensions of recent months, calm and mutual respect will return amongst all those involved, so that the school – at the start of the new school year – can fulfil its mission to the full.
We live in an age in which individual independence and achievement are paramount. But the strength of a community is also measured by how it looks after its most vulnerable members. I am thinking in particular of those whose cognitive abilities are gradually declining.
I have the utmost admiration for the carers, the organisations, and everyone who supports these patients and offers them a safe environment – whilst respecting their dignity.
Should we not take a leaf out of their book and bring more humanity and tenderness into our society?
With this in mind, we have chosen to dedicate one of the exhibitions at the Royal Palace this summer to communicate with people who suffer from dementia.
In this turbulent world, many states and armed groups no longer pay any heed to the rules of international law – and, under false pretexts, wage senseless and cruel wars.
These crises must not make us forget the major global challenges:
poverty, climate change, the decline in biodiversity and the depletion of our natural resources.
To resolve them, we must tackle them as a united front, ensure that common rules are actually adhered to, and support the institutions that oversee them. I see no other way to confront the dangers that threaten us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
From our budget deficit and the polarisation in society to geopolitical
instability and global warming – all these problems have very different causes and consequences.
But they all have one thing in common: we will only be able to overcome them if we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us, if we continue to cherish our sense of togetherness – and keep alive the art of forming a true community.
I wish you all a wonderful national holiday.
Filip, King of Belgians.