March 22, 2016, about 8-30 in the morning the political capital of Europe heard two massive explosions in the largest airport in Zaventem. Shorty after, another explosion hit the metro station Maelbeek, which is located in the European quarter where the institutions and officials sit. Immediately, the explosions were classified as terrorist attacks and led to the official gathering of the European leaders for discussing the challenging issues in terms of the European Security. For the moment, according to the sources of Politico, 31 were killed along with the 270 injured in the attacks.
As the two explosions took place, immediate evacuation of the people was undertaken. Those who were already registered and ready to take off were displaced in the sports halls around Brussels. Injured were hospitalized to the Saint-Jan hospital in Brussels that also launched an immediate blood donation. Due to severe damage as the aftermath of the explosion, Brussels National Airport in Zaventem still remains closed today. All passengers whose flights were booked for yesterday and today were offered replacements by the respective airlines from any other European capital to their final destination. Shortly after the explosion, the airport was checked by the Belgian police with another bomb found and detonated by the police. So far, a very coordinated work has been carried out by the local authorities and the European leaders. The security level in the country was raised to the highest level four along with the boosting border control close to France, Germany and The Netherlands. The ISIL has claimed their responsibility for the attacks in Belgium with the further references to the upcoming attacks in Europe.
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"Brussels Attacks".
After the explosions in the metro and the airport, the Security Council held an urgent meeting, followed by a press conference by the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. According to him, the worst expected thing happened to Belgium just four days after Belgian authorities caught Salam Abdeslam; a suspect claimed to be guilty in the Paris attacks. The governmental priority, according to Charles Michelle remained to help others and maintaining security measures within the country and outside its borders. Immediately after that, authorities established an emergency number where individuals could get answers to any upcoming issues. Until 16-00 pm no train circulated from the train stations in Brussels, two of them were reopened again at 4 pm, and Brussels Central Station, the closest to the epicenter of the events later in the evening.
The Belgian King Philippe and Queen Matilde addressed the nation at 7pm. Other European leaders, such as British Prime-Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande voiced their solidarity and support to the Belgian people, too. Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission and Head of the European External Action Service during her visit to Jordan made an emotional speech while calling to remain European in any circumstances.
Today, public transportation and train circulation have been restored to the vast extent. The only metro lines 2 and 6 are still not operating in Brussels. International train commuting has been restored, too. Brussels Airport still remains closed today and tomorrow, according to their press service. Security measures were also undertaken in other airports and places with a large number of people circulating around. The area close to the Metro explosion is not fully operational today. Namely, Directorate General AGRI, which comprises the subdivision of the European Commission reported to function remotely from home due to the damages in their office. The rest of the city has been restored to the common operational processes, schools and other public services operate just like on the usual basis.
Police and the rest of the security services illustrated excellent work and coordination during the process of denotation, evacuation and specifying the suspects of the attack. For the moment, three victims of the attacks have been confirmed. CNN reports that the first identified victim of the attack was the Peruvian mother of three-year-old children who was heading to the US. According to the information posted by her brother on Facebook, her husband was seeing her off at the airport and was also injured in the attack. Another victim was confirmed by the Belgian federal authorities. It was Olivie Delespesse who was an employee of the federal government in Wallonia. Finally, the third victim was a student form Saint-Louis University, who died in the attack at Maalbeek Station. The rest of the victims were not confirmed yet.
The response from the international community was, in fact, ambiguous. While the President of the United States Barack Obama voiced solidarity with the victims and noted that harsher measures in the fight against terrorism will be imposed, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo declared that the country would not be able to accept any migrants before the stricter measures on border control will be imposed. The declaration by the Prime Minister illustrates a disunity within the leaders of the 28 Member States of the European Union, which act united in such cases. The current issue for the European Union remains evident, as its Common Foreign and Security Policy does not foresee the common action against terrorism on behalf of the EU. Each of the member states is entitled to undertake measures on their own. Yet, the terrorist attacks intensified the debates on border control along with the stronger positions voiced by the Britts, who will undergo the referendum on exiting the European Union. The time for Europe to rethink its future has come.
