The lone assailant walked into the ING office on the ground floor of Parliament's Paul-Henri Spaak building, pulled out a gun and ordered the cashier to hand over cash. He then escaped with an undisclosed sum. Only later was the area sealed off after the police had arrived, and a helicopter even hovered overhead.
As a rule, visitors to the European Parliament, and indeed the other European institutions, must pass through a thorough security check, with their personal items examined by X-ray. The exits are under surveillance too, which raises questions about how the assailant was able to leave so easily.
A Parliament spokesperson said it was not clear whether the gun was a replica.
The incident occurred the day after a leaked note, circulated internally within the European Commission, warned its staff of "the threat of espionage, which is increasing day by day". Journalists, lobbyists and trainees provide cover for potential spy activities, the note says.
Journalists fear backlash
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Press Association (API) issued statements in protest over the allegations against the journalistic profession.
"This sort of loose talk ends up smearing everyone working in journalism by casting a cloud of suspicion over them," said EFJ General-Secretary Aidan White.
API President Lorenzo Consoli said: "We need to remind the Commission that investigative journalism is in the public interest. Journalists also have to look for 'sensitive and classified' documents in order to inform the public and to place information in a truthful context."
"There is not a general institutional suspicion towards journalists," a Commission spokesperson said in response. The Commission's internal security agents are working closely with the national security authorities of the 27 member states to thwart spies, the spokesperson added.
