Defence minister: US violated international law in Venezuela
Defence minister Theo Francken says international law was violated in the American military operation in Venezuela last weekend. He made the statement in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, where he also warned of the impact of historical underinvestment in defence as the US threatens to take control of Greenland.
US troops removed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from his home in Caracas last weekend and took him and his wife to New York. Maduro is being tried for international drug smuggling.
Critics describe the operation as a kidnapping and say the operation violated international law. Francken, of N-VA, also responded critically in the House Committee on Defence. “If you ask me if international legal rules have been violated, then I say yes,” he said.
"No one has any interest in a quarrel within NATO, except our enemies"
Francken, traditionally a supporter of the US, has been in contact with the country's ambassadors to Belgium and NATO, he told the Chamber.
He confirmed that no request had been received to send Belgian troops to Greenland in the light of US threats to acquire the territory from Denmark, a member of NATO. “At this moment, we have not received any request, neither from the EU, nor from Denmark, nor from NATO,” he said.
“This issue must be discussed in a mature manner. No one has any interest in a quarrel within NATO, except our enemies. I am convinced that initiatives will be taken in the coming days, behind the scenes or in the open, to resolve this situation. That is my hope, and I believe it will work.”
He said that after “30 years of underinvestment in hard power, combined with an overly one-sided focus on soft power”, Europe was waking up to a harsh reality: “A world in which our vision of the international legal order is not shared by everyone. The strong do what they want, the weak endure what they must.”
"I don’t think any sensible person, unless they are really far left, can regret Maduro’s departure"
Prime minister Bart De Wever and Foreign Affairs minister Maxime Prévot are expected to address the issues on Thursday during the weekly question time in the Chamber.
When asked by Flemish broadcaster VRT in Paris on Tuesday, where he was meeting world leaders to discuss peace in Ukraine, De Wever expressed mixed feelings about the US operation in Venezuela.
“I don’t think any sensible person, unless they are really far left, can regret Maduro’s departure, because he is a dictator, a criminal and a killer who belongs in prison,” he said. “As for the way in which all this unfolded, yes, one may question it.”
Prévot met US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Tuesday, where the two discussed issues including Greenland and Venezuela.
The leaders of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Denmark said in a joint statement that only Denmark and Greenland can decide on the future of the autonomous region.
Minister of Defence Theo Francken during a plenary session of the Chamber in Brussels, 17 December 2025 © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
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