French leader François Hollande has said the bomb blasts in Brussels targeted “the whole of Europe”, as messages of sympathy pour in from around the world, reports EUobserver.
Speaking on TV after an emergency cabinet meeting in Paris on Tuesday (22 March), Hollande said: “Through the attacks in Brussels, the whole of Europe has been hit.
“France will implacably continue the fight against terrorism both on the international level and at home.”
He said the “war against terrorism” must be conducted across Europe in “cold blood”.
French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said on twitter: “Today we are all citizens of Brussels. Europe has been struck at its heart.”
In the Belgian and EU capital, where three explosions earlier the same day killed at least 28 people and injured dozens of others, prime minister Charles Michel in an emergency press conference described the events as “blind, violent, cowardly attacks”.
He said his priority was treating victims. But he said it was difficult to secure the sites of the attacks or specify the exact number of casualties at this point.
He did not comment on whether the attacks were connected to last week's arrest in Brussels of Saleh Abdeslam, who took part in the Paris attacks in November 2015
Belgian officials said it was an obvious assumption, but they had no proof as yet.