België blijft achterophinken in defensie-uitgaven
![Foto: iStock. 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Het Vlaams Belang wil dat de volgende regering er alles aan doet om 2 procent van het bbp aan Defensie te besteden. Volgens NAVO-Secretaris-Generaal Jens Stoltenberg zouden dit jaar zo’n 23 van de 32 NAVO-lidstaten de 2 procent-norm halen. “België zal daar alvast niet bij zijn, gegeven de magere ambitie om die norm pas te halen tegen 2035”, zegt Kamerlid Annick Ponthier. “Daarmee zullen we steeds verder achterophinken ten aanzien van onze partners.”
Secretaris-generaal van de NAVO Jens Stoltenberg verklaarde aan het begin van een gesprek met Amerikaans president Joe Biden ook dat NAVO-landen dit jaar hun militaire uitgaven met 18 procent verhoogd hebben. Het Vlaams Belang juicht dit toe, maar duidt op een steeds groter wordende kloof met België. “Onder Vivaldi is de budgettaire lat tegen de grond gelegd. We zouden de 2 procent-minimumnorm, die de meeste van onze partners dus nu al halen, pas tegen 2035 bereiken”, aldus Ponthier. “Nu onze NAVO-partners in koor een tandje bijsteken zal de kloof met België alleen maar vergroten.”
“Defensie is een kerntaak van de overheid”
Het Kamerlid wijst in dit verband ook op een mogelijke verkiezing van Donald Trump in het Witte Huis. Trump hamerde namelijk steeds op het feit dat Amerika betaalt voor de veiligheid van de Europese NAVO-partners, die veel te weinig in hun eigen defensie zouden investeren. “Wanneer Trump opnieuw de plak zou zwaaien in de Verenigde Staten kan België zich aan een stevige vingerwijzing verwachten”, gaat Ponthier verder. “En dan zal de druk om veel meer te investeren zeer hoog worden.”
Het Vlaams Belang stond de voorbije legislatuur steevast op de barricades om zo snel mogelijk tot de 2 procent-norm voor Defensie-investeringen te komen. “Wij hebben hiertoe interpellaties en moties van aanbeveling ingediend, maar die vielen steeds op een koude steen bij de linkse Vivaldi-regering”, concludeert Ponthier. “Wij zien Defensie niet als sluitpost van de begroting, maar als kerntaak van de overheid waar de volgende regering stante pede 2 procent van het bbp aan moet uitgeven.”