- Title: Belgian PM says country on alert, but not at maximum threat level
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, CHARLES MICHEL, ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE AND TAKING SEAT (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, CHARLES MICHEL, SAYING: "We can communicate to you that last night a terrorist attack was avoided at the Central Station. An individual attempted to trigger an explosion. The soldiers who were present were able to neutralise this individual, immediately a security perimeter was set up around the area of the Central Station in order to secure the zone." MICHEL LISTENING TO QUESTION FROM JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, CHARLES MICHEL, SAYING: "We also of course want to address particular thanks to the soldiers who intervened and who reacted in a very calm and professional manner when confronted with an urgent and potentially extremely dangerous situation." MICHEL ADDRESSING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, CHARLES MICHEL, SAYING: "Of course, OCAM (Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis) immediately carried out the first evaluations of the threat in view of the events that took place at the Central Station, we have followed the situation all throughout the night, and this morning OCAM's evaluation was confirmed. OCAM has kept the evaluation of the threat at level three, which means a possible and likely threat, as has been the case for a certain number of months." MEMBER OF PANEL LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, CHARLES MICHEL, SAYING: "And the message that I would like to repeat once again is that we will not let ourselves be intimidated by the terrorists. The message that I would like to repeat is that we will continue to live in the most normal way possible, with the conviction that we must be vigilant, that we must heighten the capacities of the security services, but we want to defend our freedom, we want to defend democracy, we want to defend the rule of law by living as normally as possible. I am pleased that very quickly this morning, we were able from 8:15 to re-open the circulation of public transport and demonstrate this capacity to face calmly and lucidly this threat that is up against us, in a composed manner with the determination to protect our freedom and our fundamental values." MICHEL LISTENING TO QUESTION MICHEL LEAVING
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 10:11
- Keywords: Belgian PM Charles Michel Brussels news conference attack security Central Station
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA0016M81AO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Wednesday (June 21) security forces would remain vigilant after a failed "terrorist attack" on a Brussels railway station, but there was no need to raise the nation's alert level to the maximum.
Michel, speaking after a meeting of the country's National Security Council, said there was no indication that another attack was imminent and the alert status would remain on three, the second highest level.
He thanked security services for acting professionally and calmly in the face of a "potentially extremely dangerous situation," and said that he was pleased that Brussels was able to re-open the Central Station swiftly this morning, demonstrating a capacity to carry on living "normally". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None