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🇧🇪 Belgium /Conflict & Security

Defense recruitment surges: “Mindsets have changed, young people want to protect our society”

From La Libre Belgique · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • More than 16,000 people applied to Belgium’s armed forces in 2026, including 11,000 career applicants and 5,700 reservists.
  • Defense plans to recruit 5,560 people in 2027, including career soldiers, civilians and reservists, as it works toward 35,000 military personnel by 2035.
  • Officials attribute the recruitment surge to intensive campaigns, broader career opportunities and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Belgium’s Defense Ministry received more than 16,000 applications in 2026, a record that the government says reflects a sharp change in attitudes toward military service. The total included 11,000 applications for career military positions, up 9% from 2025, and 5,700 applications from potential reservists, an increase of 108%.

Defense Minister Theo Francken celebrated the figures during the annual presentation of recruitment targets at the port of Brussels. He said the numbers put the armed forces on course to reach 35,000 military personnel by 2035, compared with 25,000 today.

The mindsets have changed. Young people are motivated to protect our society.

· Theo FranckenBelgium’s defense minister explained the record recruitment figures by pointing to changing attitudes among young people.

The ministry also plans to expand recruitment next year. It expects to take on 5,560 people in 2027, up from 4,800 in 2026 and 4,500 in 2025. The target includes 3,100 career soldiers, 960 civilians and 1,500 reservists. Among the reservists will be 625 young people completing a year of voluntary military service.

Defense is more than paratroopers and infantry soldiers. We are also looking for technicians, nurses, doctors and computer specialists.

· Margot Van WaeyenbergheThe recruitment communications chief described the range of jobs available in the armed forces.

For the second consecutive year, every 18-year-old in Belgium next year will receive a personalized letter inviting them to join the voluntary service program. Lieutenant Colonel Margot Van Waeyenberghe, who oversees recruitment communications, said the armed forces had become more visible through intensive campaigns and by presenting a wider range of roles. The ministry is seeking technicians, nurses, doctors and computer specialists, not only paratroopers and infantry soldiers.

Francken said geopolitical tensions and the growing number of conflicts had changed how young people viewed the military. “The mindsets have changed,” he said. “Young people are motivated to protect our society.” Van Waeyenberghe said applicants understood that military service could involve deployment abroad, including to high-risk areas, but that this possibility had not deterred them. Many applicants, she said, wanted to do something for their country and join an organization with a role in society.

I want to do something for my country; I want to get involved in an organization that has a role in society.

· Unspecified applicant response, quoted by Margot Van WaeyenbergheShe cited a common reason applicants gave for joining the armed forces.
About this summary

Originally published by La Libre Belgique in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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