Dider Reynders goes on site to wish Merry Christmas to soldiers deployed to keep Zaventem Airport safe

The new Minister of Defense, Didier Reynders, went on Monday morning to meet soldiers deployed in Brussels as part of the operation “Vigilant Guardian” (OVG) in support of the federal police, wishing a Merry Christmas to those keeping the Zaventem Airport safe.

Mr. Reynders then went to his other ministry, Foreign Affairs, rue des Petits Carmes, in the center of Brussels, where he greeted the 200 or so members of the Carabinier Prince Baudouin-Grenadiers battalion of Bourg-Léopold (Limburg) responsible for ensuring safety in the streets of the capital.

In Zaventem, 36 soldiers – out of the 465 engaged in OVG – reinforce sixty police officers. The medical component provides a permanent section (about ten men and women), explained the general physician-major Pierre Neirinckx. During the bombing that hit the airport on March 22, 2016, this medical reinforcement proved particularly useful for providing first aid to the victims. And this presence has since remained.

Mr. Reynders then went to the center of the capital where he accompanied a patrol of infantry, stopping in front of the Jewish Museum of Brussels.