Belgium on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening defence cooperation with Türkiye, with Defence Minister Theo Francken describing the two countries as "close allies" whose partnership "is strong and will become even stronger."
Francken met Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler at the NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, highlighting the need for closer cooperation as allies work to strengthen Europe's defence capabilities and industrial capacity.
"A pleasure to meet Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler at the NATO Summit in Ankara. Belgium and Türkiye are close allies. Our defence partnership is strong and will become even stronger," Francken wrote on X.
The meeting came as Belgium joined Türkiye, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic in signing a letter of intent (LOI) to deepen cooperation on the A400M military transport aircraft programme.
Belgium will contribute operational expertise gained from its A400M fleet and through its BELUX cooperation framework, which Francken said would help strengthen European capabilities within NATO.
Belgium joins early warning aircraft plan
The Belgian minister also announced that his country had joined Canada, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Spain and the Czech Republic in a joint plan to procure up to 10 Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft.
In a separate multinational initiative, Belgium welcomed Finland into the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) programme alongside the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Francken said the shared tanker fleet would enhance Europe's strategic autonomy while reinforcing NATO's collective capabilities.
He said higher defence spending must translate into tangible military capabilities through closer industrial cooperation among allies.
"If we want to rearm our armies on time and cost-effectively, more industrial cooperation is needed. Not just within Europe, but also between Europe, the US, and Türkiye," he said, calling for a "Made in NATO" approach to reduce protectionist barriers and accelerate rearmament.
Francken also said Europe should assume a greater share of NATO's responsibilities while maintaining strong transatlantic ties.
"For some capabilities (think air defence, satellite communications, tanker and radar aircraft), Europe still depends on the US for now. That's why we need to fill those gaps more quickly," he wrote.
