A new investigation by EUobserver published on Friday reveals how then EU commissioner and Belgian politician Didier Reynders corresponded with Belgium’s state security to conceal his possible links with Russia.
Reynders has made the headlines since his fall from grace in 2024 when police raided his properties to investigate alleged money laundering via ING Bank using lottery tickets and cash deposits.
His shady endeavours whilst in power have gradually come to light since then, and the new EUobserver information adds to the dodgy manoeuvres of the once-vetted and trusted EU official, with classified and secretive documents.
Belgian federal police’s financial crimes unit, ECOFIN, stumbled upon WhatsApp exchanges between Reynders and Hugues Brulin, a member of the VSSE, Belgium’s intelligence services, while raiding his home.
16-page file of their communication was seen by EUobserver and shows how, between 2019 and 2023, the two men – who knew each other previously since Brulin advised his cabinet in 2015 – maintained a relationship based on the exchange of favors.
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In December 2022, Brulin told Reynders that a “job” involving the restructuring of the intelligence service’s management had been largely completed, and Reynders responded by congratulating him.
While the exchange ostensibly concerned internal staffing changes, five current and former intelligence officers told EUobserver that Brulin had allegedly worked to suppress investigations into Reynders’ suspected corruption and possible links to Russia.
According to these sources, three intelligence officers who investigated Reynders, including senior officials responsible for Russia and Africa, saw their careers brought to an end. EUobserver said it could not independently verify these allegations.
The leaked correspondence also shows Brulin offering to help Reynders launch a “counterattack” against Nicolas Ullens, a former intelligence officer who publicly accused the politician of acting in Russia's interests.
Ullens, who resigned from the VSSE in 2018, had alleged that Reynders used his political influence to benefit Moscow, including through the limiting Belgian counter-intelligence operations targeting Russian activities.
The report also cites classified intelligence documents concerning Belgian aristocrat Ernest de Laminne de Bex, an acquaintance of Reynders whom the VSSE reportedly suspected of acting as an agent of influence for Russian and Chinese intelligence services.
According to EUobserver, intelligence reports concerning de Laminne de Bex were allegedly prevented from reaching the relevant authorities. He has previously rejected accusations of foreign intelligence links.
Reynders denies wrongdoing. His lawyers did not answer EUobserver’s questions about alleged interference in intelligence investigations, while Brulin, the VSSE and the Brussels prosecutor's office declined to comment.
Security expert Kenneth Lasoen, from the University of Antwerp, told EUobserver that the allegations highlighted concerns about political patronage within Belgium’s intelligence services.
The leaked messages do not establish that Reynders collaborated with Russia or that intelligence investigations were deliberately obstructed. The allegations remain unproven, and Reynders has not been convicted in the money-laundering case.
