Belgium to increase security budget

The Belgian government has set aside 400 million euros ($427 million) in its budget for next year to reinforce security following the Paris terror attacks, Prime Minister Charles Michel announced on Thursday.

Michel outlined to the Belgian federal parliament 18 measures that the government proposed to take in the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks that claimed 129 lives and which, he said, were "carried out by Franco-Belgian" terror cells, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Let us get over our differences, join forces more than ever and unite behind the fundamental universal values of respect and tolerance," Le Soir newspaper quoted Michel as saying.

Among the 18 measures set out on Thursday were an additional 400 million euros of spending in the 2016 budget for security, reinforced border checks and 520 army officers to patrol public spaces, Le Soir reported.

According to the report, Belgium will also increase the maximum period a terror suspect can be detained without charge from 24 hours to 72.

All fighters who return to Belgium from Syria will be systematically imprisoned, and a "Molenbeek plan" will be drawn up to prevent further radicalisation in the Brussels district where several of the Paris terror suspects lived.