Toespraak van Zijne Majesteit de Koning ter gelegenheid van de ontvangst van de Pers in de Wintertuin

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Queen and I are delighted to see so many journalists here today, coming not only from Belgium but from all over the world.

As an important international decision-making centre and home to major international organisations, Belgium hosts a large and diverse journalistic community. For centuries, our country has been one of Europe’s main battlefields. After World War II, it helped creating an area of peace, security and prosperity on our continent, through NATO and the EU in particular. The presence of those two organisations’ headquarters on our soil attracts a lot of media attention, but Belgium itself remains one of Europe’s best hidden secrets... I’m sure you agree with me that it deserves to be better known.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The profession of journalist has become more challenging, more difficult, but is more than ever essential for the vitality of our democracy. I’m proud that in my country the freedom of the press is well preserved. This is not always the case elsewhere. This democratic principle is unfortunately losing ground in the world, like democracy itself.

And in a constantly changing world – where information spreads at an unprecedented speed, where citizens sometimes struggle to distinguish fact from fiction, and where polarisation is on the rise – journalistic vigilance and rigour are more crucial than ever. To verify the accuracy of information, to provide context, to analyse facts, comment on them, and illustrate them. In short, to provide the public with the tools they need to understand an increasingly complex and uncertain world.

Journalists are not only witnesses of our time but also active players. They help fuel public debate, provide multiple perspectives, and enhance mutual understanding within society, despite division being exacerbated at times, particularly by social media.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Journalism – for many of you, probably a career choice you feel passionate about, almost like a vocation – is rapidly changing. It must constantly adapt to new realities while staying true to its core principles: rigour, ethics, objectivity and fieldwork. While a foreign newspaper embarked on an experiment last month – the daily publication of a supplement generated entirely by artificial intelligence – I am pleased to see that there are still real men and women today to take up this task. Now more than ever, we need you to help build an enlightened future.

Thank you.