Brussels ‘shamefully’ mocked for security failings, called ‘naive’

Belgium’s approach to immigration and security has again come under fire after the Brussels bombings, but many say the country is being unfairly singled out and the timing of the criticism is crass.

Among the more bizarre unkind statements was that of Israeli intelligence minister Yisrael Katz.

“If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them,” Mr Katz told Israeli public radio.

But it was criticism closer to home that triggered particular outrage, after French finance minister Michel Sapin accused Brussels of “naivety” over the spread of Islamist extremism in their country.

“I think there was... a lack of will, on the part of some (Belgian) authorities... perhaps also a kind of naivety,” Sapin said on Tuesday, suggesting they “thought that to encourage good integration, communities should be left to develop on their own”. Speaking to French TV station LCI, he added: “We know... that this is not the right answer. When a neighbourhood is in danger of becoming sectarian, we should (implement) a policy of integration.”

Belgium has faced much criticism over its security failings, particularly in the wake of November’s Paris attacks that were largely planned in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, considered a hotbed of Islamist radicalism.

But the timing of Mr Sapin’s comments, just hours after the bombings at a Brussels airport and metro station, was considered highly inappropriate.

“It is indecent when people are suffering, are in shock. We need solidarity, not lectures,” said Belgian Socialist politician Laurette Onkelinx.

A member of Mr Sapin’s own French Socialist party, Francois Lamy, described the finance minister’s statement as “just shameful”.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also sought to distance himself from his colleague’s words, saying he did not want “to lecture our Belgian friends”.

“We closed our eyes, everywhere in Europe and including France, to the rise of extremist Salafist ideas in neighbourhoods where a mix of drug trafficking and radical Islam have led astray... some of the youth,” Mr Valls told Europe 1 radio.