The Belgian Government under leadership of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo with senior ministers Didier Reynders and Pieter De Crem presented the belgian plan to commemorate the great war 1914-1918.

By Royal Decree, former Governer of Flanders Paul Breyne was appointed Commissionner of the Belgian Federal Government for the commemoration of the Great War. He will be helped by a deputy Commissionner and a team of eight people, mainly academics form belgian universities.

In 2014 there will be two big commemorations by the belgian government: Liege on august 4th 2014 and the westcoast (Ieper and Nieuwpoort where the most bloody fights took place. It was also there a little piece of land where the belgian government resisted to the inviasion for more than four years with King Albert I.) on 28th of october 2014.

On 11th of november 2018, to celebreate the end of the war, a great event will take place in Brussels.

There will also be 4 commemorations with an international dimension

– Mons on 08/04/2014 (start of the 1914 war)

– Brussels region between 01/01/2015 and 12/31/2016: events on the daily life of citizens during german occupation.

– Ypres between 04/22/2015 and 05/28/2015.

– Passchendaele (West=Flanders) which was the place of the extremely fierce battle of Passchendaele.500000 people died there.It’s a symbolic date for the Commonwealth countries.

Local projects will also be endorsed by the federal government. Any infiormation on www.be14-18.be

Miguel D. DESNERCK