Belgium Weighs In on NATO Summit Significance

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00:00Counterpoints is joined by the Belgian Defence Minister Theo Franken.

00:04Thank you so much for your time here on Counterpoints.

00:06Hi, thank you.

00:07What do you make of those assessments, Minister,

00:10that this is one of the most consequential NATO summits

00:14that we've seen in recent history?

00:16Yes, we have a new DIP, so it's clear that it's super important

00:20in geopolitical context this is bad.

00:23There's a lot of tensions around the Western Hemisphere, around Europe,

00:27so that's clear that this is very important.

00:30The 2%, pretty much everybody has a 2%.

00:33We need to do more, we need to step up.

00:35The European security architecture will come in the European continent's hands,

00:39so that means that, yeah, we need to do more.

00:42We've had countries such as Spain

00:45questioning whether that 5% is doable.

00:49Belgium itself is only hitting 2%.

00:52I know that there's a 10-year lead way on this increased spending,

00:55but do you think it's achievable,

00:58or is it more just an effort to appease President Trump?

01:02No, it's not about President Trump.

01:04It's also European allies like Scandinavian countries,

01:07Baltic countries that really demand this 5%.

01:10It is about capabilities.

01:13We need to step up.

01:14We need to have more capabilities, real capabilities,

01:17not only words, but also real capabilities.

01:20So it is clear that we need to increase our defence spending.

01:24Is it realistic?

01:25You need to know we're coming from 1.3 beginning of the year.

01:29We're doing two.

01:30In a couple of months, new government, we decided to do two.

01:34We have a new review on a strategic vision

01:36that was approved upon yesterday by the government,

01:40so we're doing it step by step.

01:41We're only five months in office.

01:43We do it by step by step.

01:44Now we have a new DIP,

01:46and then we'll see in the years that come

01:48how we will try to fix that,

01:52and how we will try to do that.

01:54So step by step, Belgium is stepping up

01:56and is a reliable partner.

01:58Belgium is back.

01:59We were always a very bad pupil of NATO class.

02:01We were one of the founding fathers,

02:02but we were really bad pupil, one of the worst.

02:05So now we're stepping up.

02:07We're doing the 2%.

02:07We have the DIP,

02:09and then we'll have a lot of capabilities coming in.

02:11So...

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