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05:04we cannot follow. When I'm
05:06buying Patriots, I have to wait 10 years to get
05:08them. So we're
05:10in a very difficult
05:13position at this moment.
05:15Europe has been
05:17very good in investing
05:18in soft power, in social security
05:20and it's beautiful to have a pension system,
05:23to have social welfare systems
05:24when somebody gets sick, when somebody
05:26has lost his job.
05:28We have everything. But
05:30when there's war or when there's
05:32a hybrid threat, we don't, we have
05:34anything. So yeah, we were
05:36in a really difficult position and Belgium
05:38was a really bad pupil in the past
05:40trying to step up. We have a
05:42stable government and trying
05:44to do what we need to do.
05:46Of course, and it's my understanding that
05:48NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will be here
05:50today. What would you communicate
05:52to him about your plans to get Belgium
05:54on that 3.5% of GDP
05:56core defence spending target?
05:58Because as you rightly pointed out, Belgium is
06:00not there yet. Two things. I think
06:02that NATO capability
06:04targets
06:06will be, normally we have
06:08new NATO capability targets
06:10in 29. I think
06:12that we need an update sooner
06:14and faster. I think it's too
06:16slow. I think that the things
06:18that Belgium needs to buy from
06:20NATO are not the things
06:22that will be useful when there's
06:24war, I'm afraid. So that is
06:26one thing that we need to talk about within NATO.
06:28And on Belgian budgets,
06:30that we have the worst budget of EU,
06:32we have the biggest, highest debt of EU.
06:35We're talking about the budget
06:36as we speak, but saying that
06:38Belgium will meet that 5%
06:40tomorrow, we won't. We have 3.5,
06:42we have the 2% core spending,
06:441.5 broader spending
06:46on security issues. So
06:47we have 7 out of 10. When my girl comes home,
06:51she's 17 from school and she has a 7 out of 10. That's not too bad. But I know that
06:57the most difficult is the 1.5 core defense spending that we still need to do. So yes, I'm working
07:03on it very, very hard. Believe me.
07:05One final question. Do you think the Prime Minister is receptive to your lobbying efforts to boost the defense budget?
07:12But Bart, my Prime Minister Bartu Bever, is a very strong leader and he's a very intelligent guy. So he
07:19knows what's happening in the world. And he's telling me, yes, I know. And I'm asking for more money. He
07:26knows.
07:27But he's not alone in the government. Belgium is a federal country with five political parties in the government. You
07:33have the Dutch speaking, the French speaking. That is not always the same in Belgium. Quite interesting country we have.
07:38So it will be difficult. But I'm pushing for this. And Bart is pro-defense, 100%. So yeah, he knows.
07:47But he's the Prime Minister. You know, he has to make the compromise.
07:51Yeah, I guess he's the boss. Thank you so much, Defense Minister, for taking the time to talk to us.
07:54Thank you.
07:56Thank you.
