Return to Maalbeek and Zaventem
At the metro station devastated by the attacks of March 22, a few steps away from European offices, an old man brings a flower as a tribute to the dead and the wounded. The airport of the Belgian capital remains largely out of use. Military and police forces patrol the centre and the periphery. But the response to terrorism is long in coming.
An old man comes along at a very slow pace, dodged by bicycles on their dedicated lane, on the same sidewalk. At number 85 of Rue de la Loi the old man stops, takes off his hat, and leaves a flower. He stops as if in recollection. Two young girls arrive with shoulder bags and earphones. They slow down their paces. One of the two starts making the sign of the Cross. Then they resume their jogging. The exit of Maalbeek metro station, still cordoned off, is covered with flower bouquets, a Belgian flag, a few notes, a couple of photographs, two red candles and a handwritten sign that reads in French chapter 13 of I Corinthians “Quand je parlerai les langues des homme et des anges , si je n’ai pas l’amour … “. A month has passed since March 22, the day of the bombing in Brussels’ airport and subway: the memory remains alive, coupled by a sense of helplessness and the desire for retribution.
Life returning to normal. Since then Brussels has returned to its ordinary daily activities. Perhaps with more fears: the military and law enforcement agents patrol the entire terrority, in so called “sensitive sites”, like institutional offices, European Union buildings, train stations the Bourse, the tribunal or the Parc du Cinquantenaire, near schools, meeting places, public squares, parks … Eighty percent of the Zaventem airport, struck by two explosive devices, is still out of order: except for arrivals and departures of Brussels Airlines aircrafts and some foreign companies, passengers of low cost flights arrive (sometimes roughly) in Charleroi, Lille, Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Friends and colleagues advise to avoid the Belgian capital for some time, except in case of serious need.
The same airport management lacks precise information on the time needed to full re-open the airport. It now appears that it will take no less than a few more months. But there are sources that suggest not until the end of 2016.
Fear lingers on. While the airport of Zaventem, at the northern outskirts of the capital, is altogether distant from the city’s everyday life, Maalbeek station is in the heart of Brussels, not far from the Commission and the EU Parliament buildings. For this reason the former commuter subway exit has remained a point of reference for those who do not want to, or cannot, forget that terrible morning of Tuesday, March 22, when a bombing attack at the airport and on a subway train carriage caused the death of over thirty people and hundreds of injured.
Panic, lifeless bodies on the ground, intense smoke… and then tears, hugs, anger.
Investigations are ongoing, perhaps one of the terrorist cells has been dismantled, but the situation is not as it may seem. Ordinary life requires to move forward, even though it is preferred to accompany children right inside the school, some bus lines appear more empty than usual, there is a tendency to avoid crowds, and many steer clear from the beautiful Grand Place – or Grote Markt or, as it is called by the Flemish population – now without tourists.
Terrible moments. The old lady that used to extend a hand to passers-by begging for some coins and appease her hunger, is no longer in the Maalbeek subway station. It is hoped that she moved elsewhere, she too a survivor of that black Tuesday in Brussels. In the meantime security alerts in the nearby EU buildings went from 4 to 3 “yellow alarm”: that is, the alarm remains, but not maximum-level. News reports on the latest developments of the investigations no longer hit the front pages. The issue is scarcely debated on television too. “Many people stop here every day –said a soldier in French, but with a strong Dutch accent. “I take shifts patrolling Rue de la Loi since the day of the bombing attacks. I still have in front me the image of a mother holding her baby in her arms, and a man laying on the floor, overcome by panic.”
The answer of Europe. Municipal authorities are cautious and don’t comment on the issue of security except in official declarations. “It’s not to spread more fear”, a registrar said in a hurry. At the latest plenary of the European Parliament (that dedicated a minute of silence to the victims of the attacks), the president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, described Brussels as a “city that is dear to us and that we love”, “the city of our friendships and beloved ones, where we live in harmony with our neighbours.” Then a special tribute to the memory of an officer of a EU Commission agency, killed by the attacks, Patricia Rizzo, “a young Italian woman – Juncker said – full of energy, intelligent and radiant. We will remember her for long.”
Brussels cherishes the memory and looks ahead, while the 28 Countries of the EU strive to find – despite the promises of the first tragic days – coordinated forms of response to international terrorism that disrupted Brussels like Paris, London and Madrid;
an answer that may bring together the action of the judiciary, the police, the intelligence of all of Europe. “I believe in it”, whispers the armed soldier on guard in Maalbeek with a machine gun. He then takes off his beret, greets goodbye and resumes his close supervision of all by-passers.
