Belgium looks set to ban the wearing of veils over the face after a parliamentary committee voted unanimously in favour of the measure yesterday..jpg)
Belgium has a rising Muslim population and if the proposal goes ahead it will become the first country in Europe to have such a ban.
France also considered a ban but in the end it was deemed unworkable.
However, in Switzerland, the public recently voted in favour of a ban on the building of new minarets.
There was not over 600,000 Muslims in Belgium, but in greater Brussels they account for a quarter of the population.
In other respects, Belgium has in recent years become one of the most secular countries in Europe. It has legalised abortion and euthanasia, as well as same-sex marriage. The divorce rate there is one of the highest in the world at 70 percent.
The birth rate has also plunged which is why some Belgians fear growing Muslim influence on society. In addition to large-scale Muslim immigration, Muslims have a higher birth rate than native Belgians.
It is estimated that in another eight years a third of the population of Brussels will be Muslim.