Organizers have cancelled a “March against Fear” set for Sunday afternoon in Brussels after Belgian authorities asked them to postpone the event due to security concerns.
The rally was organized to encourage solidarity in response to the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday that killed 31 people and injured hundreds more.
Organizers had said the march would show that Brussels and the country at large refused to be intimidated by terrorism.
“This week, we, Belgian citizens have been attacked, in how we live, our customs, our rights, our liberty,” a statement said, according to the Agence France Presse.
“The first reaction in such events is to withdraw but on reflection, fear must give way to hope and the defence of our values.”
Citing security concerns and the ongoing investigation into the attacks at the Brussels airport and subway stations, Mayor Yvan Mayeur asked organizers to postpone the event for a later date.
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“Let us allow the security services to do their work and that the march — which we, too, want to take part in — be delayed for several weeks,” the mayor said at a press briefing, according to AFP.
Following the press conference, the march organizers announced they would cancel the even in a statement.
“The security of our citizens is an absolute priority,” the statement said, the German news site Deutsche Welle reported.
“Consequently, we completely join the authorities in their proposal to postpone to a later date. We thus ask citizens to not come this Sunday to Brussels,” the statement added.
Belgium and other European countries have ramped up their security in the wake of Tuesday’s attacks.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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