Brussels attack is another nail in European Union coffin

Frightened people will turn to the national authorities they know and may increasingly see Europe, not as the answer, but as the problem — even the threat, writes John Lloyd

WITH every bloody episode that detonates in the countries of the European Union, another nail is driven into its coffin. The bombings in Brussels were a virtuoso act: committed in the capital of political Europe, one taking place in a metro station near the European Commission headquarters itself.

The attacks were mounted a few days after the capture of Salah Abdeslam, the one remaining militant believed to be still at large after the Paris attacks in November — an almost operatic revenge.