NICOLAS LAMBERT/AFP/Getty Images Terror threat forces Brussels to cancel New Year festivities Mayor calls off fireworks display in city center.

Brussels has canceled New Year's Eve festivities and a fireworks display because of the terror threat facing the city, the mayor's office said Wednesday evening.

The decision was taken by the mayor, Yvan Mayeur, after consultation with Interior Minister Jan Jambon. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision had been taken "given information we have received."

The fireworks display in the center of the city was expected to attract 50,000 people, according to RTBF.

Mayeur told RTL that if the event had gone ahead, "we couldn’t guarantee everyone’s security." Asked if there was a specific threat, Mayeur said investigations indicated that "something precise" was being planned.

"These type of individuals, radicals, are threatening our democracy and our quality of life and we really have to act as soon as possible to make them unable to do harm," the mayor added.

Belgian authorities this week arrested two people thought to have been planning attacks in Brussels during end of year celebrations.

Six people were detained in raids Sunday and Monday in Brussels, the neighboring Flemish Brabant region and around Liege. Two of those were placed under arrest for plotting an attack and belonging to a terrorist group.

Military clothing and ISIL propaganda were discovered in the raids, but no explosives or weapons were found.

The Belgian government raised the terror threat level to four — the highest level — on November 21 as police hunted for suspects in connection with the Paris attacks. The threat level was lowered to three on November 26 and has remained at that level.

Fireworks displays in other Belgian towns and cities will go ahead as planned.

This article was updated with comments from the mayor of Brussels.