Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the French-speaking liberals Mouvement Réformateur, called for caution on Tuesday about raising defence spending to 2% of GDP this year. He suggested targeting this goal by the end of the legislature instead.
Bouchez stressed that the increase in spending should benefit both the country’s external defence and its internal security, noting threats such as organised crime and cybersecurity.
“The greatest risk for Belgium is not Russian tanks on the Grand Place in Brussels tomorrow, but the country being completely paralysed by a cyberattack,” Bouchez stated during a press conference in Watermael-Boitsfort.
Belgium is considered a poor performer in terms of military spending by European standards and is under pressure from its partners to quickly increase its defence budget to 2% of GDP to support Europe’s rearmament efforts against Russian threats.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) has expressed his intention to achieve this 2% target by 2025, requiring the allocation of more than €4 billion in the coming months.
Bouchez acknowledged that this would necessitate tough budgetary decisions, warning that Belgium cannot increase its defence spending without impacting other government expenses. “Choices must be made,” he insisted, advocating for “structural solutions” to fund defence expenditures.
While not ruling out the sale of certain state assets, Bouchez stressed that any sales should be carefully considered and part of a coherent strategy, to avoid transferring ownership to Chinese or other foreign entities.
