At the end of intense negotiations within the federal coalition led by Bart de Wever, Belgium is preparing to initiate an unprecedented rearmament effort. Friday, the Council of Ministers finally validated the “Strategic Vision Defense 2024-2036”, carried by the Flemish nationalist Theo Francken. This decision marks a major turning point in Belgian defense policy, in an international context marked by increasing instability.
Expenditure will experience a significant increase, going from 13 billion euros next year to 21 billion in 2034. The budget of the Defense Department will follow this ascending trajectory, evolving from 10.8 billion to 18.2 billion euros. Over the next nine years, nearly 140 billion euros will be devoted to the protection of the territory and compliance with NATO commitments (2%, then 2.5% of GDP).
The workforce should grow significantly: they will go from 26,200 soldiers, 2,300 civilians and 2,500 reservists in 2025, to 34,500 soldiers, 8,500 civilians and 12,800 reservists in 2035. This growth in human resources represents a major logistics challenge that the military institution will have to take up. Because it will be necessary to house, nourish and dress these men and women.
F-35s at the heart of the modernization of the Belgian army
One of the most spectacular aspects of this strategy concerns the acquisition of F-35 American combat aircraft. To the 34 devices already ordered in 2018 will be added eleven new hunters, which will be made in Italy. This additional order is officially part of a logic of economies of scale and rationalization of means.
At the same time, the Belgian-French project “motorized capacity” provides for the acquisition of a thousand additional vehicles. The government has also validated the ammunition plan “Ammunition Readiness Plan 2025”, with 2.3 billion euros this year, intended to end structural shortages in armaments.
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The right wing of the government, flanked by the staff, has patiently heated the spirits in recent months. The day before the agreement, Frederik Vansina, the defense chief, still defended the new strategic vision in several media. For the aviator general, this plan is based on the lessons learned from the Ukrainian conflict: the “dronification” of the battlefield, the critical role of air superiority and the determining importance of the defense industry.
“We have to make ourselves strong enough for our opponents to say that it is not a good idea to tackle us,” he explains, making Russia by Vladimir Putin the major danger of the moment. The General stresses that rearmament efforts will allow better air defense, the integration of drones, more motorized capacity and more logistical means.
Regarding the F-35, Vansina sweeps criticisms on delivery delays, recalling that devices are already controlled and maintained in the United States by Belgian soldiers. “When you build something revolutionary, there are always childhood illnesses,” he said. The first F-35 is expected on the basis of Florennes on October 13.
CPAS financing will be increased
There is no agreement on anything as long as there is any agreement on everything: this adage traditionally takes the red thread for Belgian political negotiations. Rightly, at least in part this time: within the government coalition, the Party (centrist) party has accepted future investments in defense only on the condition that the CPAS are refined.
In 2026, 180,000 long -term unemployed will lose their right to unemployment benefits. Part of them will turn to public aid (CPAS) which will thus be put more under financial pressure.
To lighten this charge, the Wever government has imagined a variable subsidiation system.
The Belgian staff wants to rearm faster against Putin
Concretely, the “first entrants” (excluded in 2025) will benefit from full federal funding in the first year, then declining over four years. In other words, they will initially remain the responsibility of the State. Persons returned to CPAS from July 2026 will see the federal care of their social integration income increased by 15%, without time limit. Bonuses are planned for high -performance CPAS in terms of employment.
Including cost for public finances: 300 million euros in 2026 and 2027 (instead of 234 million). And respectively 302 and 342 million in 2028 and 2029.
Merger of Brussels police areas
Another major measure validated by the Council of Ministers: the merger of the six Brussels police areas into a single area. Bernard Quintin, the Minister of Security and the Interior, justified this reform that some mayor did not want by operational efficiency: “When it pulls in the capital, the whole Belgium is impacted”. Obvious reference to the too low police response to drug trafficking and shootings that have bloodied Brussels in recent years.
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The new organization will include a unified command and a single police college, facilitating the rapid mobilization of agents and the exchange of information between the police. The project provides tags to guarantee a fair representation between large and small municipalities. Financial support of 55 million euros over five years will accompany this transition.
Other agreements will require other negotiations this weekend
Despite these advances, the “big summer agreement” promised by Bart de Wever did not keep all his promises. After fourteen hours of discussions, the Deputy Primers had to interrupt the negotiations without reaching the consensus hoped for on all the reforms announced.
Several major files remain unanswered. Pensions reform stops on differences concerning the calculation of career years. The labor market divides on the reduction of dismissal notice that some would like to limit to one year. The Health Law is struggling with the ceiling on supplements of fees for doctors. The future taxation makes unhappy …
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Prime Minister Bart de Wever is counting on individual tête-à-tête this weekend to unlock the situation. A new negotiations could take place Sunday evening, in the hope of announcing a full agreement on Monday July 21, the day of the national holiday. A symbol …