Belgium saw fewer terrorism threats in 2024
Belgium's Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA) received fewer reports of threats that could be linked to terrorism or extremism last year. The government body announced this in a press release on Friday.
CUTA counted 287 threat reports last year, 13 percent less than the 332 in 2023. Of these, 213 were related to extremism or terrorism. The reports came from partner agencies such as the federal prosecutor's office, the Centre for Cybersecurity or radicalisation officers. In eighteen per cent of cases, the threats came from minors.
Belgium experienced a spike in the last quarter of 2023, when a terrorist killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels. CUTA saw the shooting as a potential 'trigger event' that could encourage other extremists to take action, but this did not ultimately happen.
Belgium's current threat level is "serious", level 3 out of 4. The fact that the number of reports is decreasing does not mean that the overall threat level can go down, says CUTA: "The number of threat reports is only one parameter among many that are taken into account." These include national and international trigger events, geopolitical developments and incidents at home and abroad.
Islamic extremism
Last year, CUTA rated no threats as critical (level 4). Most reports were classified as low threat (level 1). Just under a third (31 per cent) of threats were classified as moderate (level 2), and about 12 percent of threats were considered severe (level 3) at some point.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the main sources of tension in Belgium. "This is particularly evident in the identified targets, with the Jewish community being targeted in 15 per cent of reported cases," says CUTA.
"The Jewish community [is] being targeted in 15 per cent of reported cases"
Fifty-five per cent of threat reports came from Islamic extremism. Threats from right-wing extremism (5 per cent) and left-wing extremism (1 per cent) remained limited. In 9 per cent of reports, the ideological dimension could not be identified.
It is often difficult to pinpoint motives because they are a mixture of ideological influences, personal grievances and psychological vulnerabilities, according to CUTA.
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