On Wednesday 22 March, Belgium and the EU are commemorating the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks, which killed 32 people on 22 March 2016 at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek underground station (EUROPE 11517).
The same day in London, however, a terrorist attack occurred in front of the UK Parliament in Westminster, killing four people, including a policeman and the assailant.
On Wednesday morning, the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Junker stated, “A year after the cowardly attacks on 22 March 2016, which left the whole of Europe grieving, remembrance of the victims remains and will always remain engraved in our memories and in our hearts. It is with huge sadness that I think of each of these broken lives, including that of our colleague, Patricia Rizzo, the suffering endured by the injured and the pain of the families and loved ones. I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to all of you”.
He added that, “In this terrible ordeal, Europeans have affirmed their unity in the fight against terrorism threatening their security and peace throughout the world and they have shown their determination to defend our values and our freedoms at any price”.
On 20 March, the Greens/EFA said that “A year on from the attacks in Brussels … Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones”. They added that instead of continuing to waste time and money on widespread surveillance of citizens, our countries should concentrate on stepping up cross-border cooperation between the police and legal authorities. They also asserted that, “It is well-qualified and well-equipped police that will help stop future attacks, not treating all citizens as potential terrorists”.
In a debate organised last week in Strasbourg to mark the anniversary of these attacks, a large majority of MEPs called on the member states to increase information exchanges between their respective services (see EUROPE 11746). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)