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The Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, has escaped a poisoning attack in his office. A white powder thrown on a letter sent to the prime minister's office in November sent the latter's assistant who opened the letter to the hospital. Inside the letter turned out to be an extremely fatal poison and was destined to kill the prime minister.
The substance found in the Belgian prime minister's office has been identified as strychnine, a potentially fatal poison.
The Brussels prosecutor's office revealed on Wednesday the nature of the substance that was sent last November to government buildings, including De Croo's office.
It was reportedly discovered on November 22, two days after similar packages were found at the office of the interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, and at the headquarters of the state security service. Another person was quarantined as a precaution, but not injured, after these revelations, reports "The Guardian".
Strychnine, an odorless white powder, is used as rat poison and in humans can lead to muscle spasms, cardiac arrest, organ failure and death. The dramatic convulsions it can cause in higher doses have inspired novelists and crime writers such as HG Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.
News of the strychnine-laced letter emerged two days after a knife-wielding man was arrested outside De Croo's office in Brussels. Police said his motives were not immediately clear.
On Thursday, De Croo's spokesman said the poisoned letters had undoubtedly shocked the prime minister and his staff. “ Our college is fortunately doing well now and at the time all procedures were strictly followed to prevent further damage. But this cannot be the new normal" , said the spokesperson.
The incidents come amid an increase in threats and violence targeting elected politicians in Europe. Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, narrowly survived an assassination attempt last year, while Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, was attacked in a Copenhagen square, an attack that left her with head, neck and shoulder pain and psychological trauma.
Belgium's then justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne was placed under tight security in 2022 after police identified a plot to kidnap him that Van Quickenborne attributed to drug gangs.
In 2023, the Council of Europe warned that violence against local and regional elected representatives was on the rise, a trend it fears could deter people from entering politics.
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