02.10.2026, 13:48
Belgium was named the worst student in the NATO class
Source: OREANDA-NEWS
OREANDA-NEWS Europe has been focusing on soft power instead of defense for too long. This was stated by Belgian Defense Minister Theo Franken in an interview with Euronews.
"Europe is in a very difficult position both in terms of defense capability and industrial potential," he said. According to him, one of the reasons for this was the long-term commitment to the development of soft power.
"Europe is very good at investing in soft power, in social security, and it's great to have a pension system and social security systems. When someone gets sick, when someone loses their job, we have everything. But when there is a war or when there is a hybrid threat, we have nothing," Franken said.
He also admitted that Belgium has long been the "black sheep" in defense spending. "We neglected this for so long that we were like the worst students in NATO lessons. We are the founding fathers of NATO; we are the founding fathers of the European Union. I think we've always been there for diplomacy, for soft power, but when we started talking about hard power in Belgium, everyone was looking the other way," the minister said.
Belgium reached the NATO threshold of two percent of GDP for defense for the first time in 2025, rising from a low of 0.97 percent in 2014. The Alliance wants to bring this figure to 3.5 percent by 2035, but the country will remain at two percent until 2029 due to the difficult budget situation.
Earlier, Franzen said that Europe needs to prepare for a "gloomy winter." Among the measures that need to be taken before the onset of winter are strengthening air defense, replenishing weapons stocks and accelerating production rates. Their necessity is explained by the risk of an increase in the number of so-called hybrid threats that Europe will have to counter.
"Europe is in a very difficult position both in terms of defense capability and industrial potential," he said. According to him, one of the reasons for this was the long-term commitment to the development of soft power.
"Europe is very good at investing in soft power, in social security, and it's great to have a pension system and social security systems. When someone gets sick, when someone loses their job, we have everything. But when there is a war or when there is a hybrid threat, we have nothing," Franken said.
He also admitted that Belgium has long been the "black sheep" in defense spending. "We neglected this for so long that we were like the worst students in NATO lessons. We are the founding fathers of NATO; we are the founding fathers of the European Union. I think we've always been there for diplomacy, for soft power, but when we started talking about hard power in Belgium, everyone was looking the other way," the minister said.
Belgium reached the NATO threshold of two percent of GDP for defense for the first time in 2025, rising from a low of 0.97 percent in 2014. The Alliance wants to bring this figure to 3.5 percent by 2035, but the country will remain at two percent until 2029 due to the difficult budget situation.
Earlier, Franzen said that Europe needs to prepare for a "gloomy winter." Among the measures that need to be taken before the onset of winter are strengthening air defense, replenishing weapons stocks and accelerating production rates. Their necessity is explained by the risk of an increase in the number of so-called hybrid threats that Europe will have to counter.
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