Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said that a Russian missile strike on Brussels would trigger a devastating NATO response, asserting that such an act would mean “we’d flatten Moscow.”
Speaking in an interview with De Morgen, Francken dismissed the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attack the Belgian or NATO capitals directly.
“No, because that would hit the heart of NATO and then we’d flatten Moscow,” he said, adding that such an escalation would guarantee a full alliance response under Article 5 of the NATO treaty.
Francken also rejected concerns that US President Donald Trump might abandon the mutual defense clause.
“Of course [he would respect it],” Francken said, expressing frustration at what he described as widespread European “prejudice against the American government.”
“President Trump often makes strange side remarks. You have to look past that,” he added. “He literally said that America will continue to support its NATO allies one hundred percent.”
The minister said he was more worried about “gray-zone” scenarios – hybrid tactics below the threshold of direct war.
“I’m more concerned about ‘little green men’ stirring up the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia against the so-called ‘Nazi regime.’ Before you know it, they’ve annexed part of Estonia,” Francken told De Morgen.
Addressing Europe’s drone defense capabilities, Francken said recent reports of drones flying over a Liège arms factory and the Elsenborn military training area underscore the need for rapid action.
“Drones are hard to detect on our radars,” he said, adding that Belgium plans to purchase detection systems and jammers developed by the Hasselt-based company Senhive.
“We will buy those systems as quickly as possible – and also counter-drone systems. With the European defense ministers, we have agreed that by 2027 there should be a European ‘drone wall.’”
Francken voiced skepticism about creating a unified European army, calling it “a pipe dream.”
“If we can’t even get our defense industries to cooperate, how would you ever merge all those national armies?” he said.
Francken also pushed back on suggestions that Europe’s military strength already surpasses Russia’s.
“That’s not true. The Russians have increased their capabilities. Their war economy produces four times more ammunition than the entire NATO combined,” he said. “People who claim we shouldn’t be afraid of the Russians are very mistaken.”
On the war in Ukraine, Francken said Moscow is only being held back because “the Ukrainians are fighting with our weapons, ammunition and money. Otherwise, they would have been overrun long ago.”
He sees no near-term peace prospects, arguing that Putin seeks to exploit Europe’s divisions rather than negotiate in good faith.
“The faster we rearm, the smaller his chances of conquering Ukraine become,” Francken said. “But it won’t be possible to bring the Russians to their knees militarily unless we send hundreds of thousands of European troops. I can always propose that in parliament, but there will be little appetite for it.”
Instead, he called for expanding sanctions and cutting off Russia’s oil and gas revenues – “the engine of their war economy.” He added that in recent months, “Ukraine has hit a quarter of Russian oil refineries with deep strikes.”
He also commented on global tensions, saying a joint Russian-Chinese offensive against the West “could happen.” He argued that Beijing benefits from prolonging the war in Ukraine because it weakens Western unity while increasing China’s access to cheap Russian resources.
“It’s written in the stars that China will one day reclaim Taiwan,” he said. “That’s why the Americans want to shift their focus to the Pacific as soon as possible. They expect us to stop the Russians.”
A major Russian assault on NATO territory remains unlikely, he added, citing the alliance’s growing air power. “Soon we’ll have six hundred F-35s in Europe, and the Russians fear those because they can’t see them.”
Notably, the Russian Embassy in Belgium reacted sharply to Francken’s remarks, posting a statement on its official Telegram channel that dismissed the minister’s comments as “defiant and irresponsible.”
“The defiant and irresponsible statements of one of the main Belgian ‘hawks,’ with forecasts of ‘Russian missile attacks on Brussels’ and threats to ‘flatten Moscow,’ would hardly deserve our attention due to their absolute abnormality and complete isolation from reality. As they say, insanity was getting stronger,” the embassy wrote.
The embassy also claimed that Francken had “hastened to justify himself” on social media following the publication of the interview, allegedly saying he had been “misunderstood.”
In addition, the Russian diplomatic mission tried to use Francken’s broader comments to bolster its narrative that the war in Ukraine is being waged not by Kyiv but by “the entire collective West” – a line consistent with long-standing Kremlin propaganda.