Think tank calls on Belgian gov't to invest more in intelligence services

A report published on Thursday by the Egmont Institute points out the lack of investment in intelligence services and counter terrorism in Belgium.

In the report, "Counter terrorism in Belgium: key challenges and policy options", the institute, which is also known as the Royal Institute for International Relations, a group of seven scholars assessed Belgium's counter terrorism policy in a critical manner and provided recommendations to policy makers.

The authors examined the 30 counter terrorism measures announced by the Belgian federal government in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks. They write that some of these measures could be qualified as "penal populism", which refers to a process whereby major political parties compete with each other to show tough stance on crime. They also argue for the need to have intelligence services that have a bigger role to play in information gathering before handing it to judicial actors overwhelmed with such files.

Terrorism financing and its links with firearms acquisition was another key point highlighted in the report. The authors note that the Paris and Brussels attackers bought their weapons through already existing criminal ties and networks.

The authors called on the Belgian government to be more effective in the coordination of different levels of power and counter terrorism plans. They also asked the Belgian government to maintain efforts beyond crisis periods. Endit