Mr. Juncker accompanied the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on the Place de la Bourse, in the city center on the same night of the attacks. “I saw young people, Belgians and others, singing. Seeing these young people who clearly do not want to give in, who are meeting the speech and acts of hatred with a message of love is encouraging”.

Belgium should not be lectured on the fight against terror and jihadism according to Mr. Juncker. “Who can say they have made no mistakes when it comes to the fight against terrorism? There was hard and heavy terrorism in the United Kingdom, there was terrorism in the 1980-90s in Germany, Spain, Italy, [and other countries]”.

However, as he points out, the perpetrators of the deadly terrorist attacks grew up in European societies, who failed to include them. “I feel as if the terrorism of the past was somehow internalized whereas now there is a new dimension that did not exist before. These are religious fanatics”, Juncker continued, “it’s as if the terrorism that hits us now had been imported from outside whereas in reality the people who commit these acts are born here, their parents were born here, they followed our educational systems, and are active members of our social life”.

Asked about whether this is an acceptance of European states’ failure to integrate these people, he replied that there are certain responsibilities. “None of our countries has been very successful regarding integration. This responsibility belongs to us but also, to those who persistently resist national efforts and refuse to include those who come from elsewhere, but have been here for a long time. This is a battle of two sides”.

Regarding the European agreement with Turkey about the refugee crisis, Mr. Juncker offered his full support to German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “I often have frank and harsh discussions with Merkel, but on the question of refugees there is no nuance between us”.