- Belgium sees Türkiye’s defense industry as a model for deeper NATO-linked cooperation in innovation, production and industrial capacity building
Belgium's Defense and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken praised Türkiye’s defense industry as a “role model” ahead of a Belgian economic mission to Ankara and Istanbul, saying the two countries should deepen cooperation across trade, defense, research and investment.
Speaking to Anadolu ahead of the Belgian Economic Mission to Türkiye on May 10-14, Francken said economic missions are “always about contacts and contracts.”
“For me, an economic mission like this beautiful mission to Türkiye, I hope to have a lot of good contacts, networking, new businesses, new portfolios, new ideas between Belgian companies and Turkish companies, between Belgian research institutes and universities, and Turkish universities and research institutes at the highest level,” he said.
“And then, of course, contracts, deals, business deals. And we’re up already to 40 business deals that are going to be signed. So very good, very positive. And there’s more to follow in the coming days. So a lot of deals are getting finalized,” he added.
The Belgian mission, led by Queen Mathilde, will be the first such visit to Türkiye in 14 years.
Francken said Türkiye is a key partner for Belgium, with bilateral trade volume standing at $8 billion.
“Türkiye is a very important trade partner. We have a trade budget of $8 billion, so that’s quite high,” he said.
Calling Türkiye a “crucial country,” Francken said it serves as a gateway for Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
“You’re a gate and you’re a super important country. Of course, we’re allies within NATO. We have a lot of common history. We have a big Turkish-speaking community in Belgium,” he said.
“I think that Türkiye is a big economic powerhouse, it’s a geopolitical powerhouse. And yeah, we need to work together. It’s in our interests. It is also in the interest of Türkiye,” he added.
- ‘Türkiye is really a role model’
Francken said Belgium sees major potential for cooperation with Türkiye in the defense sector.
“I think that Türkiye is really a role model,” he said, pointing to the country’s progress in research and development, innovation, production and highly skilled labor.
“They’re really very, very high-end when we talk about defense innovation and having a strong defense. So for me, it’s a role model. I think that we can learn a lot,” he added.
Francken said the delegation will include around 500 participants, more than 300 enterprises, and a large number of research institutes and universities.
“We have, I think, 60 to 80 defense industry companies coming also. So there’s a lot of our defense industry that is very keen on learning from your defense industry,” he said.
- ‘Ankara summit is super important’
On the NATO summit expected to be hosted by Türkiye in Ankara in July, Francken said he hopes for lower tensions within the alliance.
“I hope that we will have less tensions within our alliance. It’s difficult. I always talk about a marriage crisis. We’re 80 years together and then we have a bit of a marriage crisis,” he said.
“When you have a marriage crisis, it is important to have dialogue, to listen to each other, to one another, and to keep on having that dialogue,” he added.
Francken said the Ankara summit would likely focus on the defense industry, capability building, production and co-production among the US, Europe, Türkiye, Canada and other allies.
“So that is what I hope for. We’ll see. And I hope that Mr. Trump has good days. It would be very good, good humor at that moment and a good mood. That would be great to have everybody there with a good mood,” he said.
Asked whether Europe could develop an alternative to the US security and nuclear umbrella if necessary, Francken said this was not a scenario he wanted to discuss.
“We have this alliance. NATO is strong, the strongest alliance for 80 years in the history of humankind. So we need to keep on being united. Divided we fall, united we stand,” he said.
Francken said Washington has consistently told European allies to step up on conventional defense, while maintaining the US role on nuclear deterrence.
“On the nuclear, the Americans will always play their role in defending and having the nuclear doctrine as the cornerstone of the NATO alliance,” he said.
He warned against repeated public debate on nuclear capabilities.
“Sometimes I can be a bit angry when people and world leaders and European leaders talk about nuclear. It’s like having a baloney sandwich. I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about the nuclear all the time, because our enemies, they’re watching us all the time,” he said.
“So don’t talk, just act. I think that’s my lesson and my advice,” he added.
- ‘I don’t want tariffs with Türkiye’
Francken said Belgium wants to expand trade with Türkiye without using tariffs as a tool.
“No tariffs. I think that really the tariffs are not the solution to the issues that we have,” he said.
“We see that some other countries use this really as a tool. That’s not the policy that I want. I don’t want to have tariffs with Türkiye,” he added.
Francken said Belgium and Türkiye already have “a good partnership” and “a good agreement,” adding that both sides can do more in agriculture and other sectors.
“Having tariffs, it would be an awful idea,” he said.
He said Belgian companies are interested in several fields in Türkiye, including life sciences, biotechnology, health, defense, agriculture and food processing.
“Beer, you know, Belgian beer and chocolates, that’s like super good exporting. So we have a lot of things that we can offer,” he said.
Francken also praised Türkiye’s labor market, saying the country has hardworking people, lower labor costs than Belgium and a strong pool of skilled young graduates.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do together. High-skilled people. Also, we have so many young people coming out of universities, coming out of your educational system, who are really being highly skilled,” he said.
Francken said he looks forward to political meetings as well as business contacts during the visit.
“I’m certain that we’re going to have great days in Türkiye, in Ankara and Istanbul, next coming week, all up and ready for it,” he said.
* Writing by Mucahithan Avcioglu in Istanbul
