"Threat from Russia is serious; Belgium has now woken up," - Defence Minister Franken
European countries must urgently make air defence and counter-drone measures their number one priority, whilst Belgium has finally ‘woken up’ to the threats posed by Russia.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Franken said as much in an interview with Ukrinform, according to Censor.NET.
A call to change priorities
The minister noted that prolonged optimism had prevented many European countries from realistically assessing the threats posed by the Russian Federation, but that Belgium has now recognised the risks.
Franken quoted a call by Robert ‘Madyar’ Brovdi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, who stated that Western partners needed to ‘take off their rose-tinted glasses’.
"Drones, drones, drones. Countering, countering, countering drones. Air defence must be the number one priority... Belgium, like many European countries, was very progressive, but didn’t wake up to the reality. Now we have woken up", said the defence minister, expressing the hope that the country had woken up "not too late".
On Ukraine’s role in European security
Franken also added that, once the war is over, Ukraine – with the strongest and most experienced army on the continent – will play a decisive role in the future security architecture of Europe.
What led up to this
- On 30 September, Reuters reported that Russia had sent NATO a written warning that it was prepared to use nuclear weapons should the Alliance attempt to isolate the Kaliningrad region from Russian territory. The North Atlantic Alliance responded by stating that it was not threatening Moscow and regarded the letter as an attempt at intimidation.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, responding to Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons should the Kaliningrad region be cut off, stated that he does not take such allegations "too seriously".
- For his part, Nikolai Patrushev, an aide to the Russian dictator, stated that if NATO were to attempt to put its ‘threats’ regarding the Kaliningrad region into practice, Russia’s response would be ‘appropriate and swift’, and the Alliance would ‘come to regret its actions’.
