Belgium promises to help with investigation into Berlin attack

The Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon extended condolences on Tuesday to his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere and promised his country would help in any investigation after a man drove his truck into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people.

A man was arrested shortly after the incident. Forty-eight people were also injured in the attack.

Jambon said the events in Berlin are incredibly regrettable but not likely to significantly alter the security measures in Belgium taken for softs targets such as Christmas markets or skating rinks.

Further measures to protect the Winter Fun Christmas market in Brussels organized in the historic center of the city were taken Monday evening after the announcement of the Berlin attack, said the bourgmestre of Brussels, Yvan Mayeur.

In addition, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Didier Reynders said he was shocked by the tragic events at the Christmas market of the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin.

He expressed his deep condolences to his German colleague Frank-Walter Steinmeier, saying Belgium is associated with the suffering of all the German people.

For Didier Reynders, this attack is an action against the German people and against all those who share the same values. Everything must now be done to find and try the guilty, he added.

source: Xinhua