First stone laid for Belgium’s €500 million defence headquarters
Defence minister Theo Francken officially laid the first stone of Belgium’s new defence headquarters in Haren on Tuesday. With a projected cost of 500 million euros, the complex will house around 4,000 personnel when it opens in 2028.
Work on the building started last month and is due to be completed in early 2028. The headquarters is being constructed in Haren (part of the city of Brussels) and is located opposite the NATO HQ. It will be 11.4 hectares in size and accommodate 4,000 employees.
The upgrade is necessary, as Belgium's current headquarters dates from the early 1970s. In a speech, Francken called the first stone he laid a "a powerful symbol for the reconstruction of defence". Because the personnel are the "beating heart" of defence, but "soldiers are nothing without good infrastructure".
Only the beginning
Speaking to Belga, Francken highlighted the strategic importance of the investment. “It’s not just about F-35s, weapons, or frigates. Infrastructure matters too. We've underinvested for decades and now we must catch up. This is only the beginning - many more infrastructure projects will follow.”
"We've underinvested for decades and now we must catch up."
Francken emphasised that the investment, along with the NATO command centre SHAPE, is one of the largest infrastructure projects of the past twenty to thirty years. It also supports Belgian industry, as it is carried out by local companies, and counts towards meeting NATO's spending target.
Lieutenant-general Frédéric Goetynck, meanwhile, underscored the facility’s role in ensuring national security and operational readiness. By integrating security into every aspect of the design from the outset and working with layered security, Belgium is "prepared for different scenarios and critical infrastructure is optimally protected," he said.
© BELGA PHOTO MARIUS BURGELMAN / BELGA VIDEO MAARTEN WEYNANTS.
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