Derde overval op Europees Parlement in twee jaar (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Armed robbers have struck the European Parliament again, the third such attack in two years.
Preliminary reports from parliamentary sources suggest that around 2:30 in the afternoon, two individuals entered the post office.
Wielding a gun, the robbers reported forced the assistants in the post office to hand over the safe, according to individuals familiar with the events.
Parliament spokeswoman Marjorie van den Broeke confirmed to EUobserver: "There was a hold up this afternoon where two people robbed the post office."
No one was hurt, said Ms van den Broeke.
"We do not know yet how much they got away with, but it does not seem to be that much."
The building was immediately locked down in the wake of the robbery.
Police are investigating in co-operation with the chamber's security services.
In February, 2009, an ING Bank in the building was also help up and a female cashier was robbed in May 2010.
During the 2009 robbery, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had been attending an international water conference only two floors above at the time. E
Christopher Fjellner, Swedish centre-righ MEP told this site: "The building has a total of 1001 security cameras. How are we spending all this money on cameras and they don't help?"
British Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope called the robbery a disgrace: ""The security in the European Parliament has long been well-known as lackadaisical, but this is really ceasing to be a joke. It's about time something were done."
"This time is was a hold-up but how long before someone walks in with a bomb?"