The recent terrorist attacks threaten to make Belgium's internal split even bigger, as differing views on migrants and Islam add to existing internal issues, Carmen Paun, a reporter for the European edition of Politico magazine, told Radio Sputnik.
"This whole thing makes the split grow even bigger because the response to what's happening should be different," Paun told Spuntik.
In a 'peace rally,' demonstrators carried the flags of countries such as Albania, as well as the banners of Islamic militant groups such those of the Free Syrian Army along with a few Belgian flags. They were met by another group of demonstrators who carried banners denouncing terrorism and chanted nationalist and anti-immigrant slogans.
"[They chanted] we are in our home, this is our home, and they were chanting anti-terrorist, anti-Daesh slogans," Carmen Paun, a reporter for the European edition of Politico magazine, who was present at the scene, told Radio Sputnik.
"Belgium is a country which has been divided for a very long time, you have the northern part, which is Dutch speakers, [and] the southern part, which is the French community and there is not so much communication between the two communities," Paun told Radio Sputnik.
She added that she couldn't categorize the situation as an overall split, as there are many nuances when it comes to people's views. So far, according to Paun, the terrorist attacks have caused greater splits within the European Union. Cooperation schemes have yet to be worked out, as mutual distrust and worries about sovereignty continue to dominate the groups' agendas.
