diff --git a/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyApiService.php b/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyApiService.php
index 5178eab..ad30c84 100644
--- a/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyApiService.php
+++ b/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyApiService.php
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public function syncChannelPosts(string $token, int $communityId, string $commun
         }
     }
 
-    public function createPost(string $token, string $title, string $body, int $communityId, ?string $url = null, ?string $thumbnail = null): array
+    public function createPost(string $token, string $title, string $body, int $communityId, ?string $url = null, ?string $thumbnail = null, ?int $languageId = null): array
     {
         try {
             $request = new LemmyRequest($this->instance, $token);
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ public function createPost(string $token, string $title, string $body, int $comm
                 $postData['custom_thumbnail'] = $thumbnail;
             }
 
+            if ($languageId) {
+                $postData['language_id'] = $languageId;
+            }
+
             $response = $request->post('post', $postData);
 
             if (!$response->successful()) {
@@ -138,4 +142,27 @@ public function createPost(string $token, string $title, string $body, int $comm
             throw $e;
         }
     }
+
+    public function getLanguages(): array
+    {
+        try {
+            $request = new LemmyRequest($this->instance);
+            $response = $request->get('site');
+
+            if (!$response->successful()) {
+                logger()->warning('Failed to fetch site languages', [
+                    'status' => $response->status()
+                ]);
+                return [];
+            }
+
+            $data = $response->json();
+            return $data['all_languages'] ?? [];
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            logger()->error('Exception while fetching languages', [
+                'error' => $e->getMessage()
+            ]);
+            return [];
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyPublisher.php b/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyPublisher.php
index ab00a74..591f986 100644
--- a/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyPublisher.php
+++ b/app/Modules/Lemmy/Services/LemmyPublisher.php
@@ -41,13 +41,16 @@ public function publish(Article $article, array $extractedData): ArticlePublicat
             $token = $this->getAuthToken();
             $communityId = $this->getCommunityId();
 
+            $languageId = $this->getLanguageIdForSource($article->url);
+
             $postData = $this->api->createPost(
                 $token,
                 $extractedData['title'] ?? 'Untitled',
                 $extractedData['description'] ?? '',
                 $communityId,
                 $article->url,
-                $extractedData['thumbnail'] ?? null
+                $extractedData['thumbnail'] ?? null,
+                $languageId
             );
 
             return $this->createPublicationRecord($article, $postData, $communityId);
@@ -59,7 +62,7 @@ public function publish(Article $article, array $extractedData): ArticlePublicat
     private function getAuthToken(): string
     {
         $cachedToken = Cache::get('lemmy_jwt_token');
-        
+
         if ($cachedToken) {
             return $cachedToken;
         }
@@ -78,7 +81,7 @@ private function getAuthToken(): string
         }
 
         Cache::put('lemmy_jwt_token', $token, 3600);
-        
+
         return $token;
     }
 
@@ -86,14 +89,14 @@ private function getCommunityId(): int
     {
         $cacheKey = "lemmy_community_id_{$this->community}";
         $cachedId = Cache::get($cacheKey);
-        
+
         if ($cachedId) {
             return $cachedId;
         }
-        
+
         $communityId = $this->api->getCommunityId($this->community);
         Cache::put($cacheKey, $communityId, 3600);
-        
+
         return $communityId;
     }
 
@@ -109,4 +112,53 @@ private function createPublicationRecord(Article $article, array $postData, int
             'publication_data' => $postData,
         ]);
     }
+
+    private function getLanguageIdForSource(string $url): ?int
+    {
+        // TODO this will be obsolete when sources can be created from the UI, so we can remove these hard-coded sources
+
+        // VRT articles are in Dutch
+        if (str_contains($url, 'vrt.be')) {
+            return $this->getLanguageId('nl'); // Dutch
+        }
+
+        // Belga articles are in English (based on URL structure)
+        if (str_contains($url, 'belganewsagency.eu')) {
+            return $this->getLanguageId('en'); // English
+        }
+
+        return null; // Default to no language specified
+    }
+
+    private function getLanguageId(string $languageCode): ?int
+    {
+        $cacheKey = "lemmy_language_id_{$languageCode}";
+        $cachedId = Cache::get($cacheKey);
+
+        if ($cachedId !== null) {
+            return $cachedId;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            $languages = $this->api->getLanguages();
+
+            foreach ($languages as $language) {
+                if (isset($language['code']) && $language['code'] === $languageCode) {
+                    $languageId = $language['id'];
+                    Cache::put($cacheKey, $languageId, 3600);
+                    return $languageId;
+                }
+            }
+
+            // Cache null result to avoid repeated API calls
+            Cache::put($cacheKey, null, 3600);
+            return null;
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            logger()->warning('Failed to get language ID', [
+                'language_code' => $languageCode,
+                'error' => $e->getMessage()
+            ]);
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
 }