Belgium’s defense chief in Washington to help mend rift between U.S. and Europe

The U.S. and NATO are like an old married couple desperately in need of counseling, Belgium’s defense chief said Tuesday in Washington to address the future of transatlantic security and strengthen military-industrial cooperation between the two nations.

In an address to the Atlantic Council think tank, Defense Minister Theo Francken described himself as a passionate Atlanticist who supports close military and political cooperation between Western Europe and North America.

“We’re stronger together. I’m also convinced that we’re having a marriage crisis,” he said. “We’ve had a marriage for 80 years and that’s long. There’s a lot of frustration on both sides of the Atlantic.”

President Trump is not the first U.S. leader to question European defense spending. But the rhetoric coming from the White House is perhaps more caustic than America’s NATO allies are used to, Mr. Francken said.

“But then again, American soldiers are still in Europe. There’s no withdrawal of troops,” he said, noting that Mr. Trump has sent a $1.5 trillion military budget to Congress.

“There’s an increase for NATO program, not a decrease. So we have the rhetoric but then we have the effects. So I’m not panicking about the end of NATO,” Mr. Francken said.

He met with top Pentagon officials before his speech. The U.S. is putting heavy pressure on Europe to boost spending toward NATO’s target of 3.5% of GDP.

“Proper military scaling up takes time, however. The defense industry needs to keep pace,” Mr. Francken said on X. “If all of Europe implements budget increases too quickly, while the industry isn’t ready for it, you’ll only get this: even higher prices and even longer delivery times.”

Belgium is a founding member of NATO and hosts its headquarters in Brussels. Despite its pedigree, it has had a reputation as one of most notorious “free riders” within the alliance. Mr. Francken said they are determined to shed that image.

Belgium began an unprecedented level of defense spending following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The government aims to boost military spending to 2% of GDP by 2029 and up to 2.5% by 2034.

“Being the ’Free Rider’ in Europe and having the security guarantees from the Americans and the Americans paying all the bills, that’s very frustrating for the American people,” Mr. Francken said.

He said Belgium, like America’s other NATO allies, will need some time to rebuild military systems that have withered away since the fall of the Soviet Union.

“You can’t neglect your armed forces for 30 years, and then think that in 30 months everything will be settled,” Mr. Francken said.

He said Belgium isn’t in a position to choose between the European Union or the U.S. As a country of only about 11.7 million people with 25,000 active duty military personnel in uniform, Belgium needs both power blocs on its side.

“We don’t have the luxury to say ’no’ to the American production. We need missiles, we need ammunition. Our stocks are really, really low,” Mr. Francken said. “They’re low because we didn’t invest in defense for 30 years. They’re even lower because we gave everything to Ukraine.”

He thought it strange that Mr. Trump would lash out at European allies over their refusal to join the U.S. in its conflict with Iran, because of NATO’s mission as a defensive alliance. But Belgium is prepared to participate in mine-clearing operations around the Strait of Hormuz.

“Belgium is known as a specialist in mine countermeasures. Our expertise in that area is unmatched,” Mr. Francken said. “Our government has decided to contribute to a European operation to secure the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.”