On July 4, General Frederik Vansina will become the new head of Defense. He will succeed Admiral Michel Hofman who spent four years at the head of the Belgian armed forces. He looks back on this period that he describes as “turbulent” and punctuated by crises in an interview he gave us on Wednesday.
How did these four years go?
It happened quickly, a series of crises, of conflicts which confronted us with a series of challenges. But operationally, it was beneficial, In positive (crises): floods, support for the (civil sector during the Covid pandemic), Red Kite (the Kabul evacuation operation in August 2021), repatriation children (of jihadists) from Syria, deployments to Romania when the war in Ukraine began, air (defense) operations and now the Louise-Marie (the frigate which is completing a mission in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz). Among the negative notes, I will only remember Jurgen Connings (this far-right soldier whose flight had set the country in turmoil). It still allowed us to improve internal processes. In the end, we got some positives out of it. This allowed us to put the SGRS (the military intelligence service) back on track.
These four years have also been quite lively in terms of the transformation of defense, with a very proactive and combative minister (Ludivine Dedonder) who allowed us to achieve a substantial, remarkable salary increase for staff. And then we have a whole series of new projects, which have either been carried out or are in the process of being carried out, such as the individual equipment of the Belgian soldier, taken as an example abroad.
What are these programs?
The new (combat) outfit, the F-35 fighter jets, the MQ-9B drones (which will be based in Florennes), the new mine countermeasures vessels, the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, the Griffon and Jaguar armoured vehicles (for the Land component). Defence has substantially increased the number of military personnel in operations and training.
It can be said that Defence has progressed quite strongly in the last four years. But it is necessary to increase its robustness and develop a larger operational reserve.
I think that in the short term, in the next 5 to 6 years, strengthening robustness is about ensuring that our stocks of ammunition and spare parts are strengthened to increase the availability of our weapons systems, that we complement our capabilities with artillery, fire support, combat engineering, engineering in general and everything that is logistics. Because they are the ones who will most quickly contribute to deterrence and to hold out over time. To deter whom? Clearly Mr. Putin (the Russian president) and Russia will continue to represent a threat to the European continent.
What is your message to the next government?
The message we are sending is that the security situation, the security environment, in the world is not evolving in a positive direction. And that in the face of the threats that we could face, we must continue to strengthen Defense. So that it is able to fulfill its missions. Its main mission is to protect the territory and the population, Belgian citizens in Belgium and abroad. We also fulfill this mission within NATO and with the partners of the European Union. We must equip ourselves with a defense apparatus capable of fulfilling its missions.
The second message is to strengthen the resilience of society. And that is something that Defence cannot do alone. All sectors, all departments, all levels of power are concerned (including the Regions) and the individual himself is concerned. It is a fairly large project that must be shared by all the players in society. It is a global approach, within the whole country and everyone has their skills and their role to play.
Has the general staff prepared budgetary trajectories to reach the 2% of GDP devoted to defense, as requested by NATO?
Yes, we have proposals. We can, if the next government gives us a deadline in relation to the 2%, respond to it quite easily.
