Defence minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist N-VA) is increasing the number of soldiers in the army reserve. The limit on the maximum number of reservists in the Belgian army is set to rise to 20,000. Belgium’s brand-new defence minister made the announcement in the liberal daily Het Laatste Nieuws. Today, the Belgian armed forces boast some 6,600 reservists on paper.
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Defence minister Francken banks on larger army reserve to achieve army of 40,000
Colin Clapson
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Reservists are soldiers not serving in the regular army but who may be called on whenever they are needed. Mr Francken wants the Belgian army to boast around 40,000 troops within four years. To reach that goal the minister is counting on attracting more reservists. Citizens under 50 can undertake several weeks of military training allowing them to join the army reserve. Afterwards they can make themselves available to the army that may call on them in times of need.
Today, the army has about 6,600 reservists. In time Mr Francken wants to get to 20,000, a threefold increase. ‘We are obviously not going to reach that number the day after tomorrow. It will be a steady increase,’ says the minister.
More military instructors needed
To reinforce Belgium’s ambitions, the defence minister is raising the number of places for reservists within the army to 20,000. Currently, the limit is at 6,000 places and that number has thus already been exceeded. Most of the excess is formed by reservists who never show up and are therefore in practice no longer part of it.
The current upper limit allows no room for additional reservists. ‘All training courses are chock-a-block and all instructors are very busy. We have plans to recruit more instructors and shift up a gear,’ Mr Francken notes.
His predecessor Ludivine Dedonder (Francophone socialist PS) already launched a campaign to recruit additional reservists. With results! Between September 2023 and August 2024, some 2,100 Belgians applied for a position as reservist. That’s an increase of almost 70 per cent over the previous year.
1,000 youngsters a year from 2027
‘There are a lot of applications at the moment. The idea is to be able to attract more reservists by increasing the limit,’ Mr Francken notes. He aims to recruit 5,600 new reservists by 2029.
A large part of the influx should come as a result of the new voluntary army service. People who decide not to join the army after that year will have to remain available as reservists for a decade.
This autumn, all 18-year-olds in Belgium will receive a letter informing them about the new voluntary army service. There will be room for 500 candidates in 2026, 1,000 every year thereafter.
Conscription is not the answer
Given the present geopolitical situation there have been calls for a reintroduction of conscription, for all young people.
That is not on Mr Francken's agenda. ‘I am going to implement the coalition agreement, and it is not in there. We can indeed achieve the 40,000 target for the army without conscription.’ The influx through voluntary army service will be crucial, though, Mr Francken explains.