Why Belgium is the 'weakest link' in Europe’s fight against violent extremists
Even though Belgian authorities have been on high alert for several months, attackers were able to strike Brussels in three separate but seemingly coordinated attacks, killing at least 31 people on Tuesday.
Part of the challenge for security officials in Belgium, where home-grown radicalization is a major problem, is the lack of information-sharing between intelligence agencies and "numerous types of local law enforcement," according to Jorge Benitez, an international security expert at the Atlantic Council.
You May Also Like
Brussels is home to 19 different municipalities, two intelligence agencies, and six police zones in a city home to only around 1 million people.
"Even in the tightest-wound societies in terms of security services, you can still hide in nooks and crannies," Tom Sanderson, a terrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Mashable. "And in Belgium, the nooks and crannies are huge."
Much of the country is also divided into French, German and Dutch speakers, and information gets lost in the haze of linguistic and bureaucratic boundaries.
In November, Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon called Belgium the “weakest link” in Europe’s fight against violent extremists, acknowledging that the city's complex political and policing system had allowed radical networks to thrive.
Jambon also outlined plans to “clean up” the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, part of which he said was driven by an illegal economy of guns, drugs and petty crime that could be used to fund extremist activities.
Molenbeek was at the center of the Paris attack plots, and is also where French and Belgian authorities captured Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam earlier this week.
The plan was widely criticized by Brussels officials who said it would further alienate Muslims in the city.
According to figures from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, Belgium has seen 40 people per million inhabitants leave to fight in Syria and Iraq – more than any other European country.
Belgium's security forces and intelligence-gathering services have reportedly been overwhelmed by the terror investigations following the Paris attacks, with few resources left to uncover or disrupt existing plots.
When Belgian forces captured Abdeslam earlier this week, many couldn't understand how authorities had missed such a highly-sought suspect in his own neighborhood.
Sanderson said it highlights the importance of simply talking to people in places such as Molenbeek.
"Unless you've got a lot of guys who have already penetrated the network or who live in those neighborhoods...you're just not going to get the signals and the chatter," he said.
"One potential flaw...is they may not have had the same level of contact with the local communities that these men are coming from," agreed Nicholas Heras, a research associate at the Center for a New American Security.
After the Paris attacks, Brussels announced it would double spending on its security and intelligence.
The government plans to add 1,000 officers to Molenbeek and the surrounding area by 2019, and both federal and local police were expected to crack down on illegal activity in the area, such as drugs and weapons trafficking.
Though it took several months, the capture of Abdeslam shows that some of those efforts have been successful.
But the plan did little to address problems of intelligence sharing, and is not likely to streamline the convoluted Belgian bureaucracy, experts said.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics Cybersecurity
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
