Jacqueline Galant: Belgian minister resigns in Brussels airport security row

Jacqueline Galant offered her resignation because she had wrongly said she had no knowledge of a European report exposing flaws in Belgian government checks of security arrangements at the country’s airports.

Prime Minister Charles Michel reportedly said that “the minister presented her resignation to the King and the King accepted it,” according to a statement from the royal palace.

The confidential EU document was made public by two Belgian opposition parties late Thursday. The revelation came after the Brussels attacks on March 22 killed 32 people, including 16 at the airport. Two suicide bombers carried out the attacks, which have been linked to the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people. The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has claimed responsibility for both the attacks.

The EU documents termed the oversight of security measures at the nation’s airports as flawed. The report also cited serious weaknesses in the way safety checks were managed, the Associated Press reported.

Michel has earlier defended Galant saying that her office was not aware of the report sent a year ago by EU officials. However, public broadcaster RTBF quoted a spokesman for the centrist MR party Friday, saying that documents leaked Thursday had shown that Galant’s office had been informed of the EU report, Reuters reported.

Last month, a group of Belgian officers from the federal airport police sector called for thorough passenger checks and a ban on vehicles within a radius of 328 feet around the entrance of the Brussels airport, and highlighted weak spots in the security system of the airport, local media said.

Agencies/Canadajournal