In the peace movement, the environmental movement and the fight against climate change, awareness is growing of the need to confront the accelerated militarization of our society, which is taking place on the backs of the people, and the colossal capture of budgets intended for social security - the only real security - into the military industry, the war economy and exploding defense budgets. The convergence of different social struggles was forcefully expressed in the historic "100,000" person demonstration on February 13, 2025, as all our demands came together. A large number of peace associations are joining forces to form a vast STOP MILITARIZATION PLATFORM in Belgium. We publish below the Manifesto of this platform.
The war in Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza, the war in Congo, Sudan and many other armed conflicts are putting enormous pressure on the international legal system. War is terrible and the search for solutions is essential. The current Belgian government has only one approach: more weapons and more military spending (see accompanying analysis by the peace movement).
However, history shows that this does not lead to peace, nor does it guarantee “security”. International security challenges are rooted in socio-economic and ecological disruption, exploitation and plunder, or are the result of a lack of diplomacy and multilateral collective security mechanisms.
Reducing security to a question of armament and military confrontation carries enormous dangers.
The ever-increasing militarisation on the international stage and geopolitical tensions hinder the multilateral cooperation that is necessary to tackle urgent global problems such as poverty, hunger, housing, climate change, genocide, armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear weapons. The continued increase in military spending comes at the expense of the resources needed to ensure the real security of people and the planet.
A common security architecture that prioritises diplomacy, disarmament, social justice and a sustainable environment must be at the heart of our approach to guaranteeing peace and security. We call on the government to thoroughly revise the coalition agreement in this direction.
1. For a safe society, no increase in military spending
Between 2017 and 2024, the Belgian military budget doubled from 3.9 billion euros to 7.9 billion after two ‘recapitalisation rounds’ with financial injections of 9.2 billion (Michel government, 2019) and 10 billion euros (De Croo government, 2022) respectively. Despite the austerity measures announced for this legislative period, the coalition agreement states that military spending will be further increased to 2% of GDP by 2029 and 2.5% by 2034. Meanwhile, the government has even announced its ambition to achieve the 2% target as early as 2025, which corresponds to an increase of more than 4.5 billion euros for the Belgian army on an annual basis. For this legislative period, this is equivalent to the announced cuts in social spending and public services.
However, according to the Secretary General of NATO, this is still not enough and spending on education, healthcare and pensions must be cut even further in favour of military budgets. The NATO budget norm for military spending is expected to be raised further to at least 3%. Officially, this new “necessity” is due to the “Russian threat”, although Russian military spending is only a fraction (less than 10%) of what all NATO member states spend combined and less than a third of the military budgets of the European NATO countries.
Moreover, Russia has become bogged down in the Ukrainian war quagmire. The possibility of it entering into a military confrontation with a NATO member state is therefore greatly exaggerated and does not justify this over-arming of our society with our tax money.
We insist that the planned military investments be redirected to social security, public services, international solidarity, the fight against climate change and the reception of refugees, all of which are areas that contribute effectively to human security.
2. No sale of government holdings to benefit the military industry
The government wants to obtain a significant part of the additional resources for the army from a new Defence Fund. This would be financed with funds from government assets. In practice, this means that public assets will be injected into the arms industry and used to purchase military equipment, including additional fighter jets and a third frigate.
We oppose the privatisation of public resources for the benefit of the military-industrial complex and point out that it is an illusion to believe that more weapons will bring more security.
3. Diplomacy, de-escalation and mutual security guarantees
We reject a world order based on rivalries between power blocs and the pursuit of geostrategic dominance.
The end of the war in Ukraine could open the door to a renewed awareness of the need to invest in a common security system based on the principle that security cannot be pursued at the expense of others.
Belgium can play a proactive role in establishing a peace pact with Russia based on respect for international law, mutual security interests and disarmament. Diplomacy and de-escalation are the building blocks of lasting peace.
It is essential that we pursue a policy that consistently opts for the restoration and strengthening of the international legal system and human rights.
4. Nuclear weapons out of Belgium
The war in Ukraine has once again made the danger of a nuclear confrontation very real. It is unacceptable that the government refuses to confirm the presence of US nuclear weapons on Belgian territory and refuses to communicate about the deployment of new B61-12 nuclear bombs. These nuclear weapons make our country a target and increase insecurity. In order to be able to deploy them, our country has also ordered extremely expensive F-35 fighter jets. The government must end the secrecy and allow a transparent debate. We want these dangerous weapons of mass destruction to disappear from our territory. The government can take the lead in making Europe and the world nuclear-free. Belgium must accede to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
5. A militaristic culture is not a culture of security
In order to convince the population of the need for increased military spending and militarisation, the government wants to develop a “whole of society approach” that will “make the whole of society aware of a new culture of security”. In other words, it is trying to scare the community. However, a militaristic culture does not enable a society to understand or address the major challenges facing humanity. We call for active efforts to emphasise the importance of human rights, democracy and justice – in short, the promotion of a culture of peace in which education plays a central role.