Belgium admits security failure but 'not a failed state'

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel has admitted security failures after recent deadly bombings but rejected the notion that his country is a failed state.

According to the reports, Michel said said, “When there is an attack like that, of course that’s a failure and nobody can deny this.”

But “I cannot accept the idea that we’re a failed state,” he said on Wednesday at a press conference in the capital Brussels.

The attacks came four days after the sole surviving suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels after four months on the run as Europe's most wanted man.

Abdeslam is currently awaiting extradition from Belgium to France and has denied any prior knowledge of the Brussels bombings.

Belgium, a notoriously complex country divided along linguistic and political lines, has been accused of failing to keep better track of suspected extremists as the Paris attacks were largely planned in Brussels.

"It took 10 years to stop bin Laden," Michel countered, referring to former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

"We're a small country at the heart of Europe... a hub from where one can easily organize attacks in other European countries," Michel said, calling for better cross-border intelligence cooperation.

Michel claimed Belgium had succeeded in preventing many attacks, adding in 2015 alone, the country successfully prosecuted scores of people on terrorism-related charges.

SS