Belgian interior minister: Police budget was cut ‘too much’

Belgium’s interior minister said last week’s terrorist attacks here show Daesh has opened a front in Europe as it loses territory in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The minister also admitted the country had been cutting its security budget for too long.

The attacks last Tuesday, which left 32 dead and more than 300 injured, have sparked criticism of Belgium’s intelligence and police services, which are overwhelmed by the dozens of counterterrorism operations and investigations.

“For years, we have cut the budgets of these departments way too much,” Interior Minister Jan Jambon said in an interview.

“I’m pushing for more resources,” Jambon said. “Each house search yields cellphones, personal computers, hard drives…that need to be verified, and contain other clues. This is a gigantic job.”

Jambon said the Brussels attacks reaffirmed his conviction to combat the illicit economy and the trafficking of arms and drugs, “which all finance terrorism.”

Four months ago, the Belgian government also announced other legal measures to fight terrorism more efficiently, such as creating a better database of foreign terrorist fighters and allowing house searches 24 hours a day, and not just between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. as under current law.

Belgium’s parliament is still in the process of making the necessary legal changes needed to put those measures into effect.

“It would have been better if we had done this a year ago,” Jambon said. “This indeed requires time. But quality should prevail over speed.”

As Daesh suffers losses in Syria and Iraq, Jambon said a potential victory over the terrorist group won't diminish the terrorist threat in Europe.

Source : MENA