US secretary of state to meet with Belgian PM during NATO visit
US secretary of state Marco Rubio will be in Brussels this week for a meeting with other NATO foreign ministers. While in Belgium, Rubio will also meet with Bart De Wever, the Belgian prime minister announced on Tuesday.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is coming to Belgium from 2 to 4 April for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, to discuss defence spending, Ukraine and China. Rubio has also requested a meeting with Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever during the trip. De Wever himself said this in the Chamber of Representatives on Tuesday.
SHAPE
According to the Belgian prime minister, one of the topics that will "undoubtedly" come up is SHAPE - NATO's ageing military headquarters near Mons. Last year, the alliance decided to build a new centre to fight cyber threats there.
But some fear SHAPE will move to another country because of Belgium's lagging defence spending. The cyber threat project is also linked to a new building for the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), which is to be financed by Belgium alone and has been delayed considerably.
The prime minister has indicated that he will work to keep both NATO headquarters in Belgium. A first step is a meeting on Tuesday evening, where the government will discuss how to accelerate defence spending.
De Wever said it is "essential" to maintain dialogue with the US, despite the fractured relationship. "We have to realise that at the moment Europe does not have the necessary strength to sit around the table in negotiations. And if we are not sitting around the table, that means we are on the menu."
"If we are not sitting around the table, that means we are on the menu"
Visit to Kyiv
De Wever also said he will most likely visit Ukraine on 8 April. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky invited him to visit Kyiv in February. De Wever accepted the invitation back then, and said that representatives of the Belgian defence industry would travel with him.
On Tuesday, De Wever said he wanted to show that Belgium "wants to be a reliable partner for Ukraine, like the other European member states". Although he did not give further details, the prime minister assured that he "will not go there empty-handed. Zelensky has shown us what he needs".
PHOTO © Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP
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