The federal police have taken over the securing of nuclear sites that the army had been protecting since 2016, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told the House on Wednesday.
On 31 December last, the Defence Department ended the army’s mission, known as Spring Guardian (OSG), with the greatest discretion.
Launched on 5 March 2016, with an initial strength of 140 military personnel available to provide the federal police with an ‘immediate reaction capability’ for securing nuclear sites, this mission had been gradually reduced, with the Directorate of Security (DAB) of the federal police taking over.
By the end of 2022, only a maximum of thirty soldiers were mobilised in Flanders, at the Doel power plant site near Antwerp, and well as in Mol and Geel.
From January 2015 to 31 August 2021 – a period longer than the Second World War – the army also conducted Operation Vigilant Guardian (OVG) in support of the federal police, which mobilised thousands of men and women to secure the streets of major cities, railway stations, airports and the embassies of ‘sensitive’ countries.
Ms Verlinden (CD&V) also indicated on Wednesday, before the Interior and Defence Committees, that food distribution would be added to the list of critical infrastructure.
Such infrastructure is essential to the functioning of Belgian society, so specific security and protection measures apply, she told parliamentarians.
