Belgian, French ministers meet to discuss anti-terror co-operation

French prime minister Manuel Valls and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel met in Brussels on Monday with their respective interior and justice ministers, at a "mini-summit" in which they pledged to "work hand in hand" to combat terrorism.

The meeting at the Val Duchesse residence in the Belgian capital aimed to "reinforce" co-operation between the two countries in the wake of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris.

In an interview with French daily newspaper Le Monde, Belgian PM Charles Michel denied accusations that the Belgian intelligence authorities had failed - and said he wanted to stop "the exaggerations" about Belgium's role.

"Belgium and Brussels have problems related to the rise of fanaticism, but no more than the French suburbs or other countries," he said.

Belgian justice minister Koen Geens told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF that the mini-summit aimed to define priorities and ensure better co-operation in areas such as monitoring of social media.

The meeting also aimed to discuss co-operation on a Europe-wide level, RTBF added. France is keen to see a European border agency and for the introduction of systematic checks on all arrivals into the Schengen area, European or not.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also wants the European Commission to take action on the financing of terrorism, the Belgian public broadcaster RTBF added. Endit