By Dominique

 

We would have given anything to avoid a day like this.

Yesterday morning, the attack on Zaventem airport was on the news as I left the offices of Ipse on Square Gutenberg.

Just then, a convoy of fire engines thundered down the street, sirens hurling,

For hours, this European neighborhood was a flood of sirens as an unending procession of ambulances, police cars and other emergency vehicles raced in front of our old building.

 

Maalbeek is the closest metro station to Ipse. A few hundred short yards along a calm and green street, a route we often take to the European Economic and Social Committee. A route the assassins likely took yesterday.

 

Maalbeek station: for so many years, hundreds, even thousands of directors, executives and managers of Ipse member and partner organizations have gotten off at this stop to participate in our many activities.

Throughout the day, I received dozens of phone calls and messages from these colleagues, reminding me of this proximity.

 

A bright sun shone all day long, a rarity here in Brabant, illuminating the horror that was so close, the explosion in this station that became the last stop for so many men and women.

 

Belgian surrealism, often highly insightful, seemed to replace any form of intelligence.

One must know Brussels to understand it, to go beyond vulgar stereotypes engendered by ignorance and hastily conceived judgments with no roots in reality.

Unlike other capitals like London or Paris, one must venture outside the city center to see luxurious mansions, often of Flemish or Spanish styling, built in open and peaceful settings.

 

Except for the theatre of humanity that is the magnificent Grand Place, the “sensitive areas” that elsewhere in Europe spring up on the periphery, lie here in the center of the city. Unemployment in the capital region’s municipalities reaches 20%, in spite of jobs generated by the presence of European institutions.

 

Understanding Belgium means recognizing its shortfalls in the difficult task of detecting the barbarous indoctrination of feeble-minded youth. However, this does not excuse the inappropriate comments by the French Minister of Finance, reined in this morning by his colleague at the Interior Ministry. Indeed, Didier Reynders, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, is right to point out that no-go zones do, tragically, exist in all too many French neighborhoods.

 

We must also remember the motto of the Kingdom of Belgium: “Strength in Unity,” which when combined with France’s “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” forms the best strategy to combat the core of this terrorism!

 

In May, the European Parliament will adopt the now famous PNR – Passenger Name Record. This immense register will include and store for five years the personal information and payment data of all airline passengers entering or leaving the European Union. Considered indispensable by some, this US-inspired initiative, if not properly regulated, presents all the risks associated with use of personal data. Whence the European Parliament’s desire to amend the bill regarding data protection for both individuals and organizations.

 

However, most agree that the measure is not a panacea and should be but one aspect of a general policy of coordination, including the strengthening of Europol’s counter-terrorism brigades.

Increased surveillance is necessary, but fundamental freedoms must be preserved! A colossal subject!

 

In tragedy, Belgium continues to resist through humor.

In the words of Dick Annegarn, one of the country’s finest contemporary artists:

“Cruel duel qui oppose Paris la névrose et Bruxelles abruti qui se dit

Ce sera fini

L’ennui de l’ennui

Tu vas me revoir Mademoiselle Bruxelles

Mais je ne serai plus tel que tu m’as connu

Je serai abattu courbatu combattu

Mais je serai venu”