Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever addresses MPs during a plenary session of the federal Parliament in Brussels on November 6, 2025. BENOIT DOPPAGNE / AFP
A political crisis over major disagreements in drawing up the federal budget and a security crisis after a surge in drone overflights of unknown origin in recent days: Nine months after its formation, the five-party coalition led by Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever is facing serious challenges.
Seeing divisions within his cabinet over the austerity measures he proposed, De Wever had recently considered resigning. At the time, he could not have foreseen that the country would soon face heightened security tensions due to the massive drone overflights above military bases and civilian airports.
Two hundred incidents were reported on Tuesday, November 4, alone, causing major disruptions to air traffic. New alerts were triggered Thursday evening at Brussels Airport, in Liège, and at the Nuclear Energy Research Center in Mol, in the province of Antwerp. Half a dozen military bases were also targeted, including two with fighter jets, in Florennes and Kleine-Brogel. The latter, in Limburg province, also stores American tactical nuclear bombs.
