I am not sure, since I am from a neighbouring country. Some analysts said that in the case of France, Sarkozy pulled resources from local projects and local police to form anti-terror units, etc. Some areas have regressed so much that regular policemen do not want to go there.<p>In the case of Belgium, one of the problems is that there was never a push towards integrating North-Africans. Traditionally, the left has been in favor of &#x27;multi-culti&#x27; -- you basically allow minorities to form their own community without much outside interference. As far as I understand, this has been strengthened in Belgium by the socialist party, which pretty much maintained this non-interference policy for votes. This leads to problems, because in other cities&#x2F;countries family and friends would signal radicalisation to the authorities. Here, many people do not even speak Dutch or French and mistrust authority.