Newsletters
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said Türkiye is an important NATO ally and that Europe should make greater use of Turkish technology in defense production, ahead of the July 7-8 NATO meeting in Ankara.
"I think it will be a very important summit," Francken told Turkish news agency Anadolu.
He said NATO had faced difficult times recently and that unity was therefore more important than ever.
“There was discussion about the Middle East, about the war against the Iranian regime, we had some tensions on opening the military bases for American aircraft, we had some discussions about stepping up on defense spending,” Francken said. “Of course, it was not the easiest year for NATO.”
He stressed the need for cooperation on defense investment, the NATO Force Model, increased production, air defense and new technologies.
“United we stand, divided we fall and I think that is most important: show unity,” he said.
Asked about his expectations for the summit, Francken said: “I’m looking forward to go to Ankara because the warm hospitality of the Turkish people is so, so, so nice.”
He said he would also attend the NATO Defense Industry Forum.
Francken said the alliance’s second priority should be technology, air defense and increased industrial production, while the third should be continued support for Ukraine.
Asked about the “NATO 3.0” vision expected to take shape at the Ankara meeting, Francken said Belgium and other European allies must assume greater responsibility.
“Belgium and European allies need to step up, invest highly in defense and be there to take the security architecture of the European continent into our own hands,” he said. “That is actually the challenge and that’s what we need to do."
On the possibility of the U.S. reducing its military contribution in Europe and European allies filling the resulting gaps, Francken said NATO needed strong planning.
“What we need to do is have good planning, NATO planning. The SACEUR, Supreme Allied Commander, is doing this,” he said. “It’s important that we really get that going, have good plans and follow those plans.”
Francken said this meant meeting targets and addressing all capability gaps because U.S. troops and military assets would be withdrawn from Europe as Washington shifted its focus toward Asia and the Pacific.
“That means that we have to step up and fulfil our challenges, fill those gaps and that’s what we need to do,” he said.
Francken said Belgium would allocate air-to-air refueling aircraft, F-16 fighter jets, MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities under the NATO Force Model.
“We are immediately ready to deploy more for NATO from the Belgian defense,” he said.
Francken also highlighted Türkiye’s contributions to NATO and said the country should be included in European defense programs.
“Türkiye is a very important ally. It’s a long-standing ally. It’s a country that is very important within NATO,” he said. “So, yes, we need Türkiye within NATO and I hope that we can work very well together.”
Francken said he had heard that the summit would be “organized 100% super, super good” and that he was looking forward to experiencing Turkish hospitality again.
“I love Ankara, I love Türkiye, so I’m really looking forward to be there,” he said.
Francken said Türkiye should be included in SAFE-II, referring to the EU’s defense financing mechanism.
“For me, Türkiye needs to be in SAFE-II,” he said. “I think that it’s necessary to have a SAFE-II package on loans, European loans, and I think Türkiye needs to be in. The fact that Türkiye was not in SAFE-I, it is a mistake.”
“We can learn a lot from your technology,” he added.
2 min read
Francken also referred to his visit to Türkiye’s TCG Burgazada corvette, which is docked at Belgium’s Zeebrugge Naval Base for Navy Days 2026.
“I saw your corvette ship, it is beautiful, it has a lot of technology, it’s high standard,” he said.
Francken said Türkiye needed to be part of Europe’s defense production efforts because of its importance as an ally.
“We need to work together. We have adversaries, enemies that are getting stronger every day, so we need to work together to stand strong and defend our values,” he said.
Francken said Belgium and Türkiye already cooperate in several areas, including joint training activities under NATO.
“I think that we can also look to do procurement together, industrial cooperation together,” he said.
He also referred to Belgium’s economic mission to Türkiye last month, saying it was continuing to produce new agreements.
“We had our economic mission to Türkiye and now still contracts are coming out,” he said. “Even months after, you see that the economic mission gives really good results. So, that’s something positive and we go with that flow, we continue.”
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
