Soldiers against terrorist threat

13 March 2015

The dramatic events of 2015 (Charlie Hebdo, Verviers, Thalys and Paris attacks) have a fundamental influence on the security approach and the various protection measures taken by the Federal Police and its partners.

The security concept focuses on deterrence through an enhanced visible police and military presence on the ground. The available resources have been massively deployed in major population centres and on critical spots. For this reason, the Federal Police and the Ministry of Defence signed a memorandum of understanding on 13 March 2015, providing a framework to let soldiers carry out security duties which are normally carried out by the police. Under this memorandum, soldiers support and are under the command of the police.

In addition to the visible deployment of police officers and soldiers, measures were also taken to allow prompt intervention in the event of an attack.