President of the European Russian Community Association Sergei Petrosov said speaking at the conference entitled "Russian-speaking population in the enlarged European Union" in Brussels.
According to Mr. Petrosov, with account for Belgian citizens of the Russian origin, representatives of other immigration waves, the Russian-speaking diaspora in Belgium includes 100,000 people.
This is a significant number for the country with a ten million population.
For instance, the German-speaking community in Belgium is only 70,000-strong, while German is an official language in Belgium (together with French and Dutch).
Since 1991 over 43,000 people from the former Soviet Union have sought political asylum in Belgium, Sergei Petrosov said.
Russia and the former post-Soviet republics have been absolute leaders in this sphere over the last four years, he added.
Representatives of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Greece, Finland, Belgium and the Baltic states are taking part in the conference "Russian-speaking population in the enlarged European Union."
