Monday, March 23rd saw soldiers deployed on Belgian streets, initially in Brussels and Antwerp. The initial three-month commitment will involve 200 soldiers, tasked with protecting Jewish community sites. Operations will be extended to Liège, including military backing for the railway police—and for large-scale integrated police operations (FIPA).
While the troop contingent will guard synagogues and schools, part of its assignment also includes working against the Kingdom’s burgeoning narcotics trade, especially in the capital.
The announcement and then deployment was made possible after an agreement was reached last Wednesday between the three Belgian governing parties. Defence minister Theo Francken described the move as temporary, warning the Chamber of Representatives
We can’t deploy hundreds of soldiers in our streets every day.
Francken then cited an “extremely busy schedule” of overseas military commitments facing Belgium.
