Brussels - Robbery at Post Bank inside of European Parliament

Robbers have carried out a raid inside the European Parliament in Brussels.

Two men, one of them armed, held up the post office in the parliament building on Friday, and reportedly got away with at least 8,000 euros (£6,750).

Police have started an investigation into what is said to be the third major breach of security in two years.

The raid happened as European leaders met for an energy summit at a Council building, just hundreds of metres away from parliament.

"Early this afternoon, there was a hold-up at the European parliament's post office by two people who managed to escape the premises," a spokesman for the legislature told AFP.

Two female staff members were held up at gunpoint, according to theparliament.com website.

UK deputy Fiona Hall arrived minutes later and said the employees were "shaken" by the incident.
Anger over security

The BBC's Matthew Cole in Brussels says there is no evidence of forced entry into the building, so further questions have been raised about the security systems.

There was a robbery in a parliament canteen last May and in February 2009, a man brandishing a pistol stole about 60,000 euros (then £54,000) from a bank inside the building.

"For an armed robbery to happen - again - inside the European parliament means that the security system here is a complete farce," Ms Hall is quoted as saying on theparliament.com.

Many other MEPs are also said to be concerned and angry.

The area around the EU institutions has been under particularly heavy security on Friday, due to the energy summit, which has brought government leaders from across the European Union to Brussels.