Brussels Attacks Unlikely to Affect Brexit - Former UK Foreign Secretary

The terrorist attacks in Brussels have demonstrated the need for "maximum European co-operation" and will not strengthen calls for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union, former UK Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told Sputnik on Tuesday.

EDINBURGH (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, a series of blasts hit Brussels' Zaventem airport and a city metro station, killing at least 34 people and injuring almost 200 others. The Belgian authorities are treating the explosions as part of a coordinated terrorist attack. Mike Hookem, defense spokesman for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) said that the attacks demonstrated that lax EU border controls were a direct threat to the country.

"My reaction is that the attack in Brussels will have no effect on Brexit. We are as vulnerable to terrorist attack as the Belgians and had both the London attack in 2005 and many attempts since then. These attacks show the need for maximum European co-operation in sharing intelligence and co-ordinating our policies to defeat the enemy. Brexit could damage that co-operation," Rifkind, who is a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Eminent Persons Group, said.

On June 23, the United Kingdom will vote on whether or not to remain part of the European Union. Supporters of the United Kingdom exiting the bloc, or Brexit, argue that EU membership has eroded Britain’s independence to make laws, direct its economy and control its borders. Opponents warn that leaving the EU could deeply harm the country’s economy.