 After the experience of World War II , Belgium abandoned its neutral stance in international politics , in favour of military , political and economic integration . In 1949 , Belgium joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and deployed troops to fight alongside other United Nations forces in the Korean War in 1950 . Belgium was also a key player in the unsuccessful negotiations about the creation of a European Defence Community ( EDC ) in the 1950s . Belgium was assigned a sector of the British zone in West Germany , around the city of Cologne , which it occupied from 1945 . Belgian soldiers remained in Germany until their final withdrawal in 2002 . 
