The Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) has announced that the deployment of soldiers on the streets of Belgium will get underway from Monday. The soldiers will be deployed primarily outside Jewish institutions. Mr Francken made the announcement in the Federal Parliament on Thursday. A maximum of 200 soldiers will be deployed at any one time for a period of three months. After this the number of soldiers deployed will be reduced to 90.
From Monday, soldiers will guard Jewish institutions in Antwerp and Brussels. The Chief Commissioner of the Federal Police Service had requested the army’s assistance in protecting Jewish institutions in the country’s 2 largest cities. The deployment of soldiers on the streets is provided for under the Policing Act. At a later stage soldiers will be deployed to offer support to the Railway Police and to participate in the Full Integrated Police Action (FIPA) against drug-related crime.
Mr Francken says that a maximum of 200 military personnel will be deployed on the streets at any one time. This means that a total of 600 soldiers will be involved. The deployment will be for a maximum of 3 months. In addition to the soldiers that are to be deployed to guard Jewish institutions, a further 50 soldiers are already being deployed to guard local nuclear facilities, a task previously carried out by the police.
After 3 months, the number of soldiers deployed on the streets will be reduced to 90 soldiers. They will guard Jewish institutions in Antwerp, railway stations and be deployed in the fight against drug-related crime.