Commentary: Brussels attacks highlight urgency to uphold European integration

Multiple terrorist attacks on Brussels, orchestrated to instill fear in ordinary people in this European capital, will have an immediate repercussion on multiple European endeavors.

A stronger political will and more courage are urgently needed in this time of difficulty for Europe to push ahead with its integration process and tackle a mounting refugee crisis.

The attacks, which so far have claimed 34 lives, have symbolic and security ramifications. Perpetrators selected a metro station near many European Union (EU) institutions and Brussels international airport in a brazen display of disregard for innocents.

The timing of the attacks is also delicate. Last week, Salah Abdeslam, one of the chief suspects of the Paris attacks and Europe's "most wanted man," was arrested in Brussels, which is dubbed the "heart of Europe".

Two days after Abdeslam's arrest, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told media that the suspect of Paris attacks planned to "restart something in Brussels" and there was a network around him.

The arrest of Abdeslam was considered a "major blow" to the Islamic State in Europe. However, no one had expected that attacks of Tuesday's scale would come within just days amid a heavy presence of soldiers. Belgium has been placed under a heightened terror alert since the Paris attacks in November 2015.

The true impact of Tuesday's attacks can hardly be fully gauged in the coming days and even months.

Firstly, it will impair the free movement of persons within the European Union, a founding principle of the bloc. It will make it more difficult for politicians who advocate free movement and open borders to persuade their voters. The Schengen agreement, which has already been tested by the ongoing migrant crisis, will face tougher scrutiny.

The attacks will also change Europe's political landscape, leading to the rise of right-wing populism in the continent, a phenomenon which has already been exacerbated by the inflow of migrants. It will make the voice of Eurosceptic parties heard even more clearly.

Yet another fallout may be mounting public calls, flamed by the influence of right-wing parties, for faster deportation of migrants to their home countries or to Turkey as per the EU-Turkey migrant deal struck in Brussels on March 18.

Europeans remember how two of the Paris attackers entered Europe illegally via Turkey and Greece using fake Syrian passports. There is a fear that the same modus operandi may be used by other jihadist extremists.

The EU is already running short of hands to deal with the migrant crisis. Faster deportation could inevitably lead to a negligence of many migrants' genuine grievances and force them to seek alterative and more dangerous routes to Europe than via the Balkan route.

Hours after the multiple explosions in Brussels, several countries in west Europe reinforced their security and tightened border controls. Due to border closures in countries along the Balkan route, people are now living in a "fortress Europe", which, however, still seems susceptible to attacks.

Tuesday's terror will also likely become a subject of discussion when it comes to Britain's referendum on its EU membership. Eurosceptic politicians have already used the attacks as a weapon to bolster their Brexit argument.

Right after the explosions in Brussels, Britain's right-wing and anti-EU party the UK Independence Party (UKIP) blamed EU's free movement rules for the attacks.

The new attacks have underlined the urgency to tackle terrorist threats on a global scale, an idea which has been self-evident since 9/11 and further reinforced by the Paris attacks.

However, repeated tragedies have again showed there is a long way to go in this cause. The Brussels attacks will serve as another wakening call. Endi