Image Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS / Stringer / Getty 
Ten years after jihadist bombings tore through Brussels, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds, survivors and officials gathered near Maelbeek station to mark an anniversary that remains unresolved for many of those who lived through it.
The tribute took place just metres from the metro stop where one of the explosions struck during the morning rush hour on March 22, 2016, when coordinated attacks on Zaventem airport and the city’s underground network brought the Belgian capital to a halt.
Thirty-two people were killed and more than 300 injured in the attacks, which were later linked to the same jihadist network that was behind the 2015 Paris attacks. Many of the victims were commuters, EU employees, and travellers caught in the blasts as they made their way to work.
The ceremony opened with a minute of silence and a floral tribute, but the most powerful moments came from survivors.
“We survived, but our lives never went back to what they were,” said Elizabeth, who was injured in the Maelbeek explosion. “Ten years later, there are still victims who have not been compensated and who are still trying to rebuild their lives.”
One of the participants in the event recalled that day as “an attack carried out in the heart of Brussels, directed both against Europeans and against the everyday life of the city.”
During the opening of the tribute, organisers insisted that the memory of the victims must not be limited to occasional ceremonies.
“We must remember not only on anniversaries, but always, because the impact of those attacks is still present in our society,” said Tom Van Grieken, chairman of Vlaams Belang.
The event brought together several survivors who lived through the explosions and who, ten years later, are still dealing with physical and psychological consequences. Their testimonies were among the most emotional moments of the ceremony.
That day, the Belgian capital came to a standstill. Authorities shut down public transport, mobile communications were disrupted, and the European institutions suspended their activity while the scale of the attacks was becoming clear.
As several attendees recalled, the magnitude of the tragedy emerged slowly, as the first lists of injured and dead were released.
“It was a tragic day and very difficult to describe. We spent hours trying to contact colleagues and relatives to know if they were safe,” said one participant who was in Brussels that morning.
The tribute also included speeches from political representatives who stressed that the attack was not only against Belgium, but against Europe as a whole.
András László, President of the Patriots for Europe Foundation, underlined that the best way to honour the victims is to ensure that similar tragedies never happen again.
“Remembering is necessary, but it is also necessary to speak clearly about what happened and to act so that something like this does not happen again,” he said.
Several participants agreed that the passing of time has not healed the wound for those who were there.
Closing the event, one of the organisers summed up the meaning of the commemoration:
“The attacks did not end on the day they happened. They continue in the lives of those who suffered them, and that is why the duty to remember also continues.”
Ten years after 22-M, Brussels once again looked back to honour the victims, but also to remind itself that the consequences of that day are still present in European society.
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