NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS

National Security Affairs (NSA) in Belgium

National Security Affairs (NSA) in Belgium

Introduction

Belgium's cultural setting has influenced its quest for security through alliances, its circumspect foreign policy and the constant efforts of successive governments to clinch the West. Modern Belgium's National Security Affairs (NSA) is manifested in a historical and enlightening context. The kingdom of Belgium is known as the “crossroads of Western Europe” because most other western European capitals are located within 1,000 kilometers of the capital city of Brussels. Bordering on the North Sea, the climate of Belgium is temperate with mild winters and wet, cool summers. The topography of Belgium varies from the flat coastal plains of the northwest to hills in the central part of the country to the mountains of the Ardennes Forest in the southeast. Belgium has protected large areas of land, particularly in the Ardennes, which is home to many of the 191 species of birds and the 58 mammal species endemic to Belgium. Close attention is also paid to the peat bogs of the Hautes Fagnes Reserve. Flooding is a constant threat on the coast, and the government has created a protective system of concrete dikes along the 200 square miles of reclaimed coastal land. Belgium's natural resources are somewhat limited, consisting of construction materials, silica sand, and carbonates. With a per capita income of $31,800, the quality of life in Belgium is among the highest in the world, and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) Human Development Reports place Belgium in ninth place.

Disucssion

Belgian Police Force

Until 2001, Belgium's police consisted of a Gendarmerie, Judicial Police, and Municipal Police. In the 1990s, popular dissatisfaction with the inability of the police structure to respond effectively to problems and questions of modern society led to calls for reform from the public, politicians, and the police officers themselves. After much discussion and serious research, politicians reached a deal known as “the Octopus agreement.” This agreement, between eight democratic parties, was signed in the Belgian Parliament on May 24, 1998. The publication of the law of December 7, 1998, was the final start of the reform of the Belgian police structure.

The new, integrated Belgian Police Force (BPF), which came into force on January 1, 2001, is a product of that 1998 Police Act. The new force's main goal was to put an end to certain tensions that existed between the different police services. Cooperation was the key word of the future. The integrated police consists of two structures that are active on different grounds: the federal police and the local police. The federal police performs federal or national tasks, while the local police is responsible for maintaining security and public order in 196 police “zones.” The federal police was installed on January 1, 2001, and local police has been operational in the 196 Belgian police zones since January 1, 2002.

The new BPF is the result of the amalgamation of all previously autonomous and separated police forces, including the Gendarmerie and the Judicial ...