CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi says Belgium needs to "go easy on the billions" when it comes to increasing its defence spending.
"When I hear about 2.5% of GDP allocated to defence, which amounts to more than €22 billion, I don’t know where we'll find it," he said on Bel RTL radio on Monday morning.
He said it was necessary to adequately invest in European defence measures in the context of waning US support but stressed that "we have to be reasonable." He also advised against buying more F-35 fighter jets from the US.
Mahdi believes it is feasible to aim for 2% of GDP by the end of the year, stating that "we must do it and are exploring ways to achieve it quickly."
The 36-year-old Christian Democrat politician remarked that the target did not necessarily consist in selling public holdings such as Belfius and BNP Paribas Fortis. "It is important to keep strategic and profitable assets in our portfolio [...] We can sell certain parts, but we must carefully consider which ones."
