The Vooruit party calls for increased defence spending, but insists the EU must relax budget rules first.
With recent geopolitical developments, international pressure to invest more in defence is growing. The new federal government had agreed to meet NATO’s target of 2% of their GDP for defence by 2029, but there is a growing consensus to accelerate this plan significantly. Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) aims to achieve this target by this summer.
In an interview with De Zondag, Budget Minister Vincent Van Peteghem emphasised that “we cannot wait” until 2029. “Better to meet NATO goals now and allocate more funds for the military than to face potential conflict with Putin later,” said the CD&V minister.
Vooruit chair Conner Rousseau also advocated for additional defence investments on the VRT programme, De Zevende Dag. However, he asserted that “Europe must permit this.” Rousseau believes Europe is facing the “international boxing match with both hands tied behind its back” due to stringent budget rules.
These budgetary rules must be relaxed, for instance, by agreeing to exclude defence investments from the budget. According to Rousseau, it is untenable for Europe to demand increased defence spending while penalising member states that comply with stringent budgetary sanctions.
To meet the NATO target, Belgium needs to spend roughly an additional 4 billion euros annually compared to current spending. Allocating this budget will be challenging for a government prioritising fiscal balance.
