The Belgian transport minister resigned on Friday after accusations she lied about an EU report that criticised security at Brussels airport a year before last month’s Islamic State suicide bombings.
Ms Galant had previously maintained before parliament that her office had not been aware of a critical report sent in March 2015 by EU officials. Opposition parties said they had emails proving the contrary.
European Commission officials declined comment on the report but noted they carry out regular checks on security at European airports and raise any concerns with national authorities. “A summary of the report had been discussed and sent to the minister’s cabinet in June 2015,” prime minister Charles Michel told a news conference after accepting Ms Galant’s resignation.
“I cannot accept that parliament was not made aware of this important point yesterday,” Mr Michel added.
He would appoint a replacement as soon as possible, he said.
Ms Galant is a member of Mr Michel’s centrist party, which rules in coalition with three others. Ms Galant complained of a “crusade” against her by a senior official in the state transport administration.
On March 22nd, two Islamic State suicide bombers detonated suitcase bombs in the airport departure hall before a third struck a metro train in the city. In all, they killed 32 people.
The EU carries out around 35 safety inspections at European airports each year. The restricted report, dated April 28th, 2015 details shortcomings in the supervision of security in the Brussels airport section that travellers enter once they have cleared security checks and around the planes themselves.
Following the attacks and in the face of criticism of the Belgian government at home and abroad, the interior and justice ministers offered their resignations to Mr Michel over failures by police to detain one of the bombers, who had been on wanted lists, but the premier asked them to stay on.
Agencies