ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM AS A THREAT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM

The article analyzes the problem of Islamization of the Kingdom of Belgium, as well as migration, religious extremism and terrorism, which threaten the national security of the country.In modern Belgium, as in many other countries of the European Union, there is an increase in the number of people professing Islam, this trend is already beginning to create a new reality that affects the situation in Belgium in such aspects as social, economic and political life.The current situation has a long history.After the Second World War, the Kingdom of Belgium was restoring its economy.The country lacked workers.In the sixties, workers from the Arab countries of North Africa and Turkey began to come to Belgium.By the seventies, Muslims who came to work in Belgium began to bring their families, thereby increasing the number of Muslims living in the country.This meant the emergence of a new social group that differs from the indigenous population of Belgium in religious, ethnic and cultural terms.The Muslim diaspora began to populate large cities of Belgium.Gradually, mosques, Islamic centers, Muslim schools and Arabic language courses began to be built.In this process, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia played an important role, providing financial and diplomatic assistance.In 1974, the Belgian government recognized Islam as one of the state religions.Since the beginning of the XXI century, Muslim migrants began to pose a problem for Belgium.Migrants were difficult to integrate into Belgian society, and created a Muslim society within a Christian society.Muslim youth, who are poorly integrated, often become victims of the propaganda of Islamic fundamentalism, pushing them towards terrorism.After the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, several hundred native Belgians, as well as Belgian Muslims, went to fight in Syria and Iraq.Many of them returned to Belgium, and pose a danger to national security.Since 2015, terrorist attacks have occurred in major cities of Belgium, behind which stood the Islamic State.At the same time, the Kingdom of Belgium has been involved in the war against terrorism as part of western coalition in North Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan.As the results have shown, the strategy of multiculturalism does not work.In Belgium, two societies coexist that are completely different and often conflict with each other.The Belgian government now and in the future needs to develop radical mechanisms to solve this problem.