Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA): “We secure the port ourselves with 50 million euros a year” (Antwerp)
De Wever (N-VA) put his demand for a National Security Council and the deployment of the army on the table by Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) and Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V).
Due to the understaffing, the port is adequately secured by the shipping police, a federal establishment. There are recruitments, but progress is very slow.
If it is not possible to get the shipping police up to full power, De Wever makes a proposal. “The Antwerp local police calculated that with a service of 350 people it is possible to guard the port area,” he says. “That comes with a price tag of 50 million euros per year. How I view the federal government. Only the ministers do not happen.”
The alternative is the military. De Wever rejected this proposal from opposition party Vlaams Belang in the past. It was therefore surprising that he suggested this option on Tuesday on the channel ATV.
“I have found that if you refer to the military, this is a round that blinds everyone,” says De Wever. “During the interview, I was confirmed and referred to military deployment. The Vlaams Belang asks the army to do police acts and that is not allowed. My proposal is that the army patrol the port at night, so a static assignment, such as the security of the Jewish quarter during the terrorist threat. I am convinced that some drug criminals could wet their pants if they know there are paratroopers in the harbor.”
Less positive
Although nothing came of it, De Wever did not finish the consultation with the ministers. He is pleased that Verlinden and Van Quickenborne know what the situation is in Antwerp. “There are no differences of opinion about how we should tackle drug crime,” says De Wever. “Less positive is that there is no solution for the security of the port. I do not hear any short- and medium-term solutions for the shortage of personnel in the federal judicial police and the shipping police. I am sure that both ministers will really start, but I am not sure if this is the case for the entire federal government.”
Ministers Verlinden and Van Quickenborne describe the meeting as constructive. They both reiterate their efforts to eliminate staff shortages and refer to the screening of port workers by the State Security and the controls in the ports of countries where the drugs depart.
“The demand for the National Security Council, like the deployment of the army, is purely symbolic,” says Verlinden. “With the National Security Council, for example, you cannot keep the local police and the mayor. It is not the case that we have a surplus of police officers that we can pass on to Antwerp. The federal police is expected to join 114 new people by next year. Only there are no miracle solutions. If that were the case, we would have already deployed.”
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Washington
Van Quickenborne suspects that the fight against drug crime is an absolute priority. “We are taking all the longer steps and really did not wait for the tragic incident on Monday,” said the Minister of Justice. “During the consultation, we go over what we are already working on.”
De Wever will be in Washington next week to discuss the approach to drug crime. At a conference with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam on 17 February, it will be examined how, among other things, shipping companies can contribute to the fight against drug trafficking. Around that time, the mayor again met with ministers Verlinden and Van Quickenborne.