Europe

Belgian minister says neglect hampered anti-terror fight

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Italian Police escort a man, centre, to a police car in the southern city of Salerno, Italy, Sunday March 27, 2016. Police identified the man arrested as an Algerian wanted in Belgium for facilitating illegal migration linked to the recent terror attacks in Paris. According to police he was sought under a European arrest warrant for alleged involvement in a network in Brussels which makes false documents, including those used by extremists implicated in the Paris and Brussels attacks. (Italian police via AP) (The Associated Press)

Italian Police escort a man to a police car in the southern city of Salerno, Italy, Sunday March 27, 2016. Police identified the man detained as an Algerian wanted in Belgium for facilitating illegal migration linked to the recent terror attacks in Paris. According to police he was sought under a European arrest warrant for alleged involvement in a network in Brussels which makes false documents, including those used by extremists implicated in the Paris and Brussels attacks. (Italian police via AP) (The Associated Press)

Italian Police escort a man, centre, into a police car in the southern city of Salerno, Italy, Sunday March 27, 2016. Police identified the man detained as an Algerian wanted in Belgium for facilitating illegal migration linked to the recent terror attacks in Paris. According to police he was sought under a European arrest warrant for alleged involvement in a network in Brussels which makes false documents, including those used by extremists implicated in the Paris and Brussels attacks. (Italian police via AP) (The Associated Press)

Belgium's interior minister says the Belgian government has invested 600 million euros ($670 million) into police and security services over the past two years but acknowledged that neglect over decades had caused deficiencies that have hampered an effective response to violent extremism.

Minister Jan Jambon said errors were made in the run-up to the March 22 Brussels attacks that killed at least 31 people and wounded 270 others, but says fresh investments need time before they become visible. He said Sunday that hiring anti-terror specialists and specialized equipment could not happen in weeks or months.

Jambon says "it is also not because you put the money in now, that tomorrow all this is visible on the ground."