Newsletters
Belgian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that Türkiye is an "indispensable partner" for European security and a strategic ally for Belgium, ahead of the country's largest-ever economic mission to Türkiye. The delegation, led by Queen Mathilde and including 450 members from 200 companies, is set to visit Istanbul and Ankara from May 10-14.
"Türkiye is a key partner for us. For three years, Türkiye has been Belgium's fifth-largest export market outside the EU. This says a lot. Through this large mission—I think the largest one ever—we want to clearly show that we see Türkiye as a truly strategic partner of Belgium," Prevot told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the visit.
He was emphatic on security: "There is no way to talk about European security architecture without Türkiye."
Prevot framed Türkiye as geopolitically transformed since Belgium's last economic mission 14 years ago.
"The Türkiye of today is quite different from the Türkiye of 2012. The poverty rate has been halved, and the quality of life is much higher than it was 20 years ago. Now, Türkiye is a stronger strategic actor than ever geopolitically," the Belgian foreign minister said.
"It is, therefore, really important that all these challenges, from the supply chains of various industrial sectors to Europe's global security architecture, are addressed together with Türkiye," he said.
He rejected any framing that would put Türkiye in the same category as Russia or China by stating, "Placing Türkiye in the same sentence as Russia and China is a bit strange. Türkiye is a NATO ally. It is also one of the candidate countries for EU accession. So of course Türkiye does not need to be 'contained' or 'limited.'"
"We should work with Türkiye as a strategic partner," he said.
Prevot said Türkiye's defense industry had grown 300% and described this as "really important," identifying defense as one of the key sectors for deepened cooperation through the mission.
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken was even more direct, describing the Turkish defense industry as a role model.
"Türkiye's defense industry is very advanced in innovation and building a strong defense capacity. For this reason, they are a role model for me," Francken also told AA.
He confirmed that up to 80 Belgian defense companies are expected to be a part of the mission, and said a significant portion of Belgium's defense sector was "very eager to learn from the Turkish defense industry."
Francken described Türkiye as "a very important partner" and a connectivity hub for Asia, the Middle East and Europe. "Türkiye is a great economic and geopolitical power. We need to work together. This is in our mutual interest," he said.
Prevot said approximately 40 agreements were planned for signing, covering social security, transport, port management, logistics, aviation and defense, as well as a modernization of the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union's 1989 bilateral agreement with Türkiye.
"We cannot address the common economic challenges of 2026 with the framework of 30 years ago," he said, while calling for an update of the EU-Türkiye Customs Union, which he said had focused only on industrial goods when signed in 1996 and did not cover services, agriculture or modern dispute resolution.
Key sectors of interest highlighted by both ministers included biopharma, where Prevot said Belgium has "a truly world-class pool of experience," semiconductors, aviation, logistics, energy transition, hydrogen, life sciences and port management. Prevot specifically mentioned Türkiye's offshore industry investments as a natural fit with Belgium's leadership in North Sea offshore projects.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached €12 billion ($14.12B) last year. Francken put the figure at €8 billion in a separate context, noting Türkiye was a critical partner.
He said he opposed tariffs in the bilateral relationship: "I do not want customs tariffs with Türkiye. I think we have a good partnership, a good agreement. We can do more in agriculture, we can do more in some other areas."
Francken expressed strong support for NATO's cohesion ahead of the Ankara Summit, describing the current transatlantic friction as "a marriage crisis" of 80 years requiring dialogue rather than division.
"If we divide, we lose; if we unite, we survive. We must be united, not divided," he said.
On the issue of European nuclear autonomy, Francken urged caution by stating, "Sometimes people and world leaders, especially European leaders, talk about acquiring nuclear capabilities as if they were talking about buying a sandwich. I do not think this is a good approach. Keeping the nuclear issue constantly on the agenda is not right because our enemies are constantly watching us."
"My message: Talk less, act more," he said.
He expressed hope that the Ankara Summit would yield productive outcomes on defense industry capacity, production and co-production, describing it as "an extremely important" meeting for cooperation between the U.S., Europe, Canada and Türkiye.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
