Belgium: EU to 'Re-energise Relations with Turkey' at Brussels Talks - Tusk

European Union leaders met in Brussels, Sunday, to coordinate plans with Turkey on stemming the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe. President of the European Council Donald Tusk announced that "after many weeks of hard work and tough talks, we have reached an agreement which I hope will be accepted today by all parties concerned."

Deep Anxiety Pervades Brussels as Lockdown Continues

THE GUARDIAN: With no end in sight to the unprecedented crackdown in the Belgian capital, its economic, social and political costs are rising


Dusk is gathering but the pale wintry sunshine keeps temperatures above zero for a final hour. Annelise Augustyns is on her way to a playground near the Gare du Midi with her two children, aged three and five. All three are wrapped against the wind scything across the bleak concrete plaza outside the station.

It is the third day of lockdown in the Belgian capital and the Augustyns have spent three days confined to their small apartment. The 35-year-old government worker’s office in the centre of the city has been shut. So too, on Monday, were the children’s schools.

“You have to live after all, despite all this tension. The kids are going crazy and no one knows how long this is going to last,” Augustyns said.

On Monday night the Belgian government promised to ease the unprecedented crackdown put in place by the Belgian government as security services hunt a network of local Islamic militants linked to the Paris attacks and suspected of planning a similar operation in Brussels. However the threat, prime minister Charles Michel stressed remained “serious and imminent”. » | Jason Burke in Brussels | Monday, November 23, 2015

Brussels Lockdown: Belgian Capital on Top Alert, Key Suspect Slips Past Police Raids

Belgian police are still searching for Salah Abdeslam, one of the participants in the Paris terror attacks on November 13. He was not among 16 people arrested during raids on Sunday and the authorities fear he could be planning another attack.

Brussels 'Very Dangerous' as Several Terror Suspects Remain At Large

THE GUARDIAN: Soldiers and armoured vehicles could stay on Belgian capital’s streets into next week amid fears of imminent Paris-style attack in the heart of the EU


Several terrorists remain at large in Brussels and threaten to commit a “very dangerous act”, a senior official has said, as the Belgian capital enters its second day with soldiers and armoured vehicles continuing to keep the city in lockdown.

The mayor of one of Brussels’ municipalities said the area was still facing a grave threat, adding that suspects linked to the Paris terror attack that killed more than 130 last week remain on the run.

Schaerbeek’s mayor, Bernard Clerfayt, said on Sunday: “There are two terrorists in the Brussels region that could commit very dangerous acts.” The Belgian interior minister, Jan Jambon, added “several suspects” tied to the Paris attacks could be at large in the country.

Belgium’s national crisis centre on Saturday raised the threat alert in the Brussels region to level four, which indicates a “serious and immediate threat”. Clerfayt said it was necessary to try to anticipate and prevent any such acts and their consequences. He said: “As long as this threat is present, we must be very attentive.” » | Jason Burke and Ian Traynor in Brussels | Sunday, November 22, 2015

Brussels Faces Week On Lockdown as Hunt for Terror Cell Intensifies

A police officer and soldiers on security duty inside the
Galerie de la Reine in Brussels on Sunday.

THE GUARDIAN: Belgian officials say they are looking for at least two individuals, including one man suspected of playing role in Paris attacks last week

Europe’s unofficial capital faces an unprecedented security lockdown this week after Belgian authorities imposed a slew of safety-first measures to prevent a “serious and imminent” terrorist attack.

Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, said schools and universities would be shut on Monday while the Metro in the city, which had been expected to partially open after being suspended over the weekend, will not run.

Belgian counter-terrorist agencies are continuing their search for a network of Islamic militants as soldiers patrol the streets with armoured vehicles outside main stations and in public spaces.

“We still fear attacks here like those that occurred in Paris, involving several individuals striking simultaneously in several places,” Michel told a tense press conference, adding that there were “indications” that transport systems, commercial centres, shopping streets and busy places were targets.

Local media described the measures, particularly the closure of schools, as unprecedented and historic, and predicted mass disruption. It remained unclear how the lockdown would affect Europe’s political executive, the European commission. » | Jason Burke in Brussels | Sunday, November 22, 2015

Belgium: Brussels on Lockdown Over Terror Alert, Soldiers Deployed

Public areas of Brussels including metro stations were closed on Saturday after the Belgian authorities raised the ‘terror’ alert status in the capital to its highest level. People have been advised to avoid crowded areas because of a "serious and imminent threat," according to a government spokesperson.

Brussels in Lockdown after Terror Threat Level Is Raised to Maximum

Military vehicles commonly sighted in Brussels on Saturday
as city moves to maximum terror alert level.

THE GUARDIAN: Shops close, football is cancelled and people are urged to stay home as army patrols streets in face of ‘serious and imminent threat’ of Paris-style attack

Brussels has been blanketed with security after the Belgian government raised alert levels on terrorist threats to the maximum, warning of the “serious and imminent” possibility of a Paris-style attack involving firearms and explosives.

The city’s metro system was closed down on Saturday until Sunday afternoon at the earliest as shops shut, shopping malls were partly shuttered, professional football was cancelled, concerts were called off and music venues, museums, and galleries closed their doors for the weekend.

The heightened alert level followed meetings of the national security and counter-terror services late on Friday, which concluded, on the basis of undisclosed evidence, that a major attack was being planned in Brussels. The rest of the country was put on a level three alert, one level short of the maximum. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Saturday, November 21, 2015

Brussels on Highest Alert as Belgian Officials Warn of ‘Serious and Imminent’ Threat

THE WASHINGTON POST: BRUSSELS — The government abruptly shut down the metro system, canceled sporting events and warned residents to avoid crowded places as Belgium placed the capital on maximum alert early Saturday, citing a “serious and imminent” threat of attack.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Saturday morning that officials had identified shopping centers, public transportation and major events as targets of a possible attack, involving multiple assailants at multiple locations, similar to the deadly assault that struck Paris on Nov. 13.

Searches of homes overnight by police in the immigrant quarter of Molenbeek and other neighborhoods in Brussels uncovered explosives and weapons, the prime minister said. Belgian security officials said it appeared that suspects were planning simultaneous attacks and that this was the reason for raising the threat to its highest level early Saturday. The U.S. Embassy in Brussels also issued a security alert warning U.S. citizens here “to shelter in place and remain at home.” Late Friday, an additional Belgian citizen was charged as an accomplice in connection with the Paris attacks and participation in a terrorist organization. Authorities declined to release his name.

Armed troops stood guard in front of hotels and at major intersections. Movie theaters, pools and department stores were shuttered. A concert by well-known Belgian singer Johnny Hallyday planned for Saturday night at a major concert venue was canceled, as well. » | William Booth, Anthony Faiola and Emily Badger | Saturday, November 21, 2015

Refugees Will Freeze to Death, Warn EU Heads

Luxembourgish President of the European Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker

THE TELEGRAPH: Leaders warn the continent was "falling apart" trying to deal with the migrant crisis

Migrants crossing the Balkans will begin freezing to death as winter approaches, the head of European Union has said, as leaders warned the continent was "falling apart" trying to deal with the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

As leaders of eastern European countries turned on each other at a foul-tempered emergency summit in Brussels, they said the Schengen visa-free zone and even the European Union itself could be pulled apart as states threw up borders to halt the influx.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said a solution was urgently needed or thousands of refugee families facing winter temperature on the hillsides and freezing river-banks of Eastern Europe, would die.

"Every day counts," he said. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably." Miro Cerar, the Slovenian prime minister, said the EU was days from collapse as his country buckled under an “unbearable” influx of migrants.

"If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," he said.

Werner Faymann, the Austrian chancellor, said Sunday's meeting would "either consolidate the unity of Europe or watch the slow decomposition of the EU." » | Matthew Holehouse, in Brussels and Melanie Hall in Berlin | Sunday, October 25, 2015

Police Use Water Cannon against Anti-austerity Protesters in Brussels

The demonstrators confronted riot police in central Brussels during a protest over the government's reforms and cost-cutting measures. Protesters began burning waste and pelting stones at the police who responded with a water cannon.

Hungary to EU: Migrant Quotas Will Repeat Western Europe's 'Failed' Attempts at Multiculturalism

THE TELEGRAPH: Budapest tells EU officials to stop "lectures" over question of taking in Syrian refugees

Hungary has defended its opposition to Brussels' plans for compulsory migrant quotas, saying it did not wish to repeat the West's "failed experiments" in multiculturalism.

In a defiant rejection of diktats from Europe's high command, the country's right-wing government said it was not interested in "lectures" from the European Union about taking in Middle Eastern refugees.

The comments were a direct challenge to remarks last week by one of the EU's most senior figures, who criticised Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, for opposing the quotas plan and for fencing off its borders to migrants trying to reach Europe.

Frans Timmermans, the Dutch vice-president of the European Commission, said that "diversity was the future of the world," and that Eastern European nations would just have to "get used to that."

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Orban's spokesman, Zoltán Kovács, responded by saying that integration in much of Western Europe had been at best a limited success. Hungary, he said, felt neither the wish nor the obligation to follow suit.

"Contrary to Mr Timmerman's vision, we can't see into the future," Mr Kovács said. "But we are aware of the past, and multi-culturalism in Western Europe has not been a success in our view. We want to avoid making the same mistakes ourselves." » | Colin Freeman, Chief foreign correspondent | Saturday, September 26, 2015

My comment:

Viktor Orbán is now the true leader of Western Europe, not Mutti Merkel. As Mr. Orbán rightly states, Europe is founded on Judaeo-Christian, not Islamic, principles. More power to Viktor Orbán. If he came here, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. I'm sure many others would too. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

French Arrested Suspect in Brussels Jewish Centre Attack

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Alleged killer arrested for conducting attack on Jewish centre in Brussels that killed three

A Frenchman with suspected ties to Islamic radicals in Syria has been arrested over last week's fatal shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, investigation sources told AFP on Sunday.

The suspected gunman, 29-year-old Mehdi Nemmouche, was arrested Friday in the southern French city of Marseille in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to the ones used in the attack on May 24, the sources said.

Nemmouche has been detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, a judicial source said. » | AFP | Sunday, June 01, 2014

Museum Shooting: 'My Children Know That Being Jewish Means They Will Be Targets'

Head of the European Jewish Community Centre
Rabbi Avi Tawil says he encounters abuse every day

SUNDAY EXPRESS: A GUNMAN calmly walking into the Jewish Museum in Brussels and shooting four people without a shred of emotion has triggered fears of a resurgence of anti-Semitic violence across Europe.

The horror attack came the weekend before members of far-Right groups in France, Germany and Greece were elected to the European parliament that sits in the Belgian capital.

The rise of neo-Nazi groups, which are openly anti-Semitic, bears chilling hallmarks of the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany in the early 1930s.

This is at a time when young men from across Europe indoctrinated by radical Islamic preachers are returning home from fighting jihads in Syria and Chechnya, united with the far-Right in their hatred of Jewish ­people and also possessing the skills and mindset to target them.

Security camera footage showed the killer, in cap and sunglasses, stroll in, casually remove a Kalashnikov automatic rifle from a bag and open fire, before escaping on foot, all in less than two minutes.

An Israeli couple and a 65-year-old French woman volunteer died, while a 24-year-old Belgian member of staff is said to be “clinically dead” in ­hospital. » | Jon Coates | Sunday, June 01, 2014

Zeman: Islam Is to Blame for Attack on Jewish Museum in Brussels

Miloš Zeman, Czech President

PRAGUE POST: Czech president says he condemns any group that targets another based on religion

Prague, May 27 (ČTK) — Islamic ideology rather than individual groups of religious fundamentalists is behind violent actions similar to the gun attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that killed four people, Czech President Miloš Zeman said Monday at the Israeli Embassy in Prague.

Two Israeli tourists and a member of the museum staff were killed by an unknown shooter Saturday, and another staff member died of his injuries Sunday.

Zeman's speech sharply condemning "the hideous attack" was posted on his official website today. Zeman took part in the celebration of the 66 years of independence of Israel.

"I will not be calmed down by statements that it is only small marginal groups. I believe, on the contrary, that this xenophobia and this racism or anti-Semitism stem from the very nature of the ideology on which these fanatical groups rely," Zeman said.

He said one of the sacred texts of Islam calls for the killing of Jews. » | Czech News Agency | Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Brussels Blows €10 Million on Obama Day-trip despite EU Austerity Anger

Barack Obama has arrived in Brussels...and for a hefty price tag. EU taxpayers are spending 10 million euros on security alone; money, that as RT's Egor Piskunov reports, many member states can't afford.

Ukraine: Barack Obama Says Europe Must Defend Its Hard-won Freedoms Again

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: This is no time for "casual indifference" to the annexation of Crimea, US president tells European leaders

President Barack Obama has called on European countries to meet a "moment of testing" by stepping up their commitment to Nato against the threat to democracy and international law posed by Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

In a passionate speech delivered in Brussels, the American president warned that indifference to Vladimir Putin's attempt to redraw Ukraine's borders by force risked undermining the sacrifices of those who had died in two world wars.

"Russia's leadership is challenging truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident: that in the 21st century the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn with force, that international law matters, that people and nations can make their own decisions about their future," he warned. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels and Peter Foster in Washington | Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Barack Obama's First Visit to Brussels to Cost Belgium More Than €10m

Belgium mobilising 350 police and military motorbikes to
secure the president's routes to EU and Nato summits.

THE GUARDIAN: Obama will arrive with 900-strong entourage, including 45 vehicles and three planes, and attend EU and Nato summits

As Belgium's capital and host to the EU and Nato, Brussels is used to deploying heavy security when big names pop by. But US President Barack Obama's visit on Tuesday will strain the city like never before with €10m ($10.4m, £8.4m) of Belgian money being spent to cover his 24 hours in the country.

The president will arrive on Tuesday night with a 900-strong entourage, including 45 vehicles and three cargo planes. Advance security teams orchestrating every last detail have combed Brussels already, checking the sewers and the major hospitals, while American military helicopters were last week given the green light for overflights. The city hosts at least four EU summits a year, with each of these gatherings costing €500,000 in extra police, military and transport expenses. "But this time round, you can multiply that figure by 20," said Brussels mayor, Yvan Mayeur. » | Leo Cendrowicz in Brussels | Monday, March 24, 2014

Bugging Brussels: New Snowden Leak Claims NSA Spies on EU Diplomats
Even more scathing reports of US surveillance are emerging from Germany - courtesy of Edward Snowden. Der Spiegel magazine is reporting that they've seen a top secret US document - outlining how the country's intelligence bugged EU offices and spied on the bloc's internal computer networks. RT's Peter Oliver is in Berlin with more on this latest leak. RT is also joined by Lode Vanoost - former deputy speaker of the Belgian parliament.

Related »

Tits to Islam! Femen Targets Islam in Bare-breast Brussels Protest

Cameron Plan for EU Growth to Solve Debt Crisis Is Ignored

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has accused the European Union of ignoring his proposals to tackle its debt crisis by cutting red tape to free markets and unleash economic growth.

Despite support from 11 countries for the Prime Minister’s growth plan sent to Brussels 10 days ago, Herman Van Rompuy failed to include any of the proposals in a draft text to be agreed at a summit today.

Instead, said diplomats, the President of the European Council, who runs EU summits, included proposals from France and Germany “almost word for word”.

As last night’s EU employment and growth summit opened, Mr Cameron stood up to “complain” that his call for “clear targets, timetables setting out dates and accountability” had been snubbed, government sources disclosed.

“He complained. He asked why it was that the views of 12 countries, representing more than half the EU’s population, had not been reflected,” said a source.

Mr Cameron clashed with Mr Van Rompuy over his plan to tackle the “crisis of growth” minutes before the Belgian was appointed to a second two-and-a-half-year term as EU president.

Mr Van Rompuy, who earns £249,000 a year, more than twice the salary of the British leader, has been accused of doing the bidding of Germany and France and of failing properly to represent all 27 EU countries. » | Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels | Friday, March 02, 2012