With the outgoing government unable to take any new initiatives and no immediate prospect of a new government in sight the Belgian parliament is the only body still qualified to take major new defence decisions. Today the defence select committee OKed a proposal that would allow the Belgian army's drone fleet to be armed in the future.
A vigorous debate on whether the Belgian army's drones should be armed already raged during the previous parliament. Left wing government parties opposed the idea, but the political landscape has meanwhile shifted.
Flemish socialist Vooruit introduced an amendment requiring such deployments of armed drones always to be under human control. According to Vooruit MP Axel Weydts, the acceptance of this amendment makes the adoption of the resolution a ‘no-brainer’:
‘It would be incredibly unwise to allow Belgian defence efforts to lag behind partner countries and those of our enemies, also for the safety of the troops we may deploy in foreign operations.’
‘No autonomous killing machines’
Lawmaker Peter Buysrogge (Flemish nationalist N-VA), one of the people behind the resolution believes common sense has now prevailed: ‘Military adversaries, including the Iranian regime, are already using drones targeting innocent civilians in Europe. We must not only defend ourselves, but also exploit the full potential of our technology.’
Flemish nationalist N-VA, far right Vlaams Belang, Christian democrat CD&V and liberal Open VLD as well as Francophone centrist Les Engagés voted in favour of the resolution. Flemish Green Staf Aerts abstained warning of the ‘threshold lowering effect’ of drones. Francophone socialist PS also abstained. Communist PVDA voted against.