by Carrie Hou
On Thursday, February 13, over 100,000 people in Belgium took to the streets of Brussels to protest the new coalition government austerity plans. Led by unions, who called for a general strike, the protest was one of the biggest in Belgium’s history, halting over 300 flights and public transport.
Why is this happening?
The new Belgium coalition government – led by the far-right Flemish nationalist party – is hailing in a storm of anti-social reforms. This includes 18 billion euros in cuts to pensions, education, healthcare and unemployment benefits, squeezing many in Belgium already struggling to make ends meet during a cost of living crisis. These anti-social reforms are to make way for increased military budgets, where new Prime Minister Bart de Waver wants Belgium to spend 2% of its GDP on defence in line with NATO spending.
Belgium’s new austerity for militarisation agenda falls in line with the US’s Cold War agenda. Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever called the US “the most important partner” in “global security,” and China is labelled “a systemic rival”. It’s no surprise that a huge section of Belgium’s military budget has already been earmarked for US arms companies, to buy Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jets and rocket launches.
Belgium’s compliance with the US/NATO is hardly an isolated case. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, European countries have significantly increased their military spending to record levels. Over the past four years under Biden, US companies have profited immensely from this shift, as the EU, lacking the industrial capacity to produce its own weapons, has relied heavily on US exports. This has allowed American arms companies to rake in record profits from European contracts.
Under Trump, the militarization of the EU continues to accelerate, though with a distinct shift from the approach of the Biden administration. As Trump revives relations with Russia to shift focus toward China, the EU has grown increasingly concerned about its security alliances. In response, the EU is investing heavily in arms manufacturing, whilst urging member states to shift toward wartime economies.
So what do we do?
Austerity and militarisation are often two sides of the same coin. The two, historically, operate in tandem. Underneath the staggering cuts to health care or claims that there is no money left for education is a billion-dollar arms contract.
The working class are not only those most affected by austerity but they have the most power to shut down essential sectors of the economy that governments want to militarise, from energy to transportation to manufacturing.
That’s why in Belgium, we’ve worked closely with unions to mobilise against the government. Teachers, firefighters, sanitation and steel workers walked arm in arm with Peace organisations, civil society and youth networks to massively disrupt the economy.
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Carrie Hou is an Australian community organizer based in Brussels, Belgium.
