“We must pay tribute to the victims in the capital of Europe. We must commemorate the European citizens who were victims of these attacks. This is a tribute to all the victims of terrorism. I wanted to start my time as President with this symbolic act.”, said Sassoli, right after the commemoration.

He added : “We have to unite in our fight against terrorism and we must remain resolute in this fight."

The ceremony took place at 1 p.m. on Friday, at the entrance of Maalbeek metro station, in Brussels, one of the places where the attacks of 22 March 2016 took place. The President had just come back from Strasbourg and this was his first public act since he was elected on 3 July.

Find video and photo coverage (free to use) of the ceremony here (soon available)