Brussels war party blocks even discussion of normalizing ties with Russia — ambassador

BRUSSELS, April 21. /TASS/. All attempts by pragmatic Belgian politicians to discuss the merits of normalizing relations with Russia face strong opposition from EU and Belgian "war parties," Russian Ambassador to Brussels Denis Gonchar told TASS in an interview. Commenting on the situation in which Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was practically forced to take back his words about Belgium’s desire to resume energy cooperation with Russia amid the US war with Iran, the diplomat said: "Such approaches are not due to any preference for Russia but rather reflect a desire to protect Belgium’s national interests amid growing global turbulence." "Unfortunately, even tentative attempts by pragmatic politicians to engage in domestic political discourse on supporting peace in Ukraine and normalizing ties with Russia immediately face powerful counteraction from the EU and Belgian 'war parties.' The main problem is that the influential military wing of the country’s political establishment continues to push our relations into a stalemate through their statements and actions. They allow themselves to make absolutely unacceptable and even direct insults against Russia’s top leadership. Some of them, having been ideologically brainwashed, swear eternal support for Ukraine until the last Ukrainian. Others diligently pursue NATO’s position on militarization and increased military spending, disregarding the consequences for the population's well-being and the state of the kingdom’s economy," the Russian ambassador emphasized. According to him, these efforts impose an image of Russia as "the main long-term threat" to Europe on society, and "under this pretext, vast sums of money are being allocated to the military-industrial complex." "A scandal over alleged Russian drones flying over Belgium's civilian and military infrastructure for several months in late 2025 is an illustrative example of such manipulation. The Defense Ministry received 50 million euros for an ‘anti-drone’ program under this pretext, despite the Finance Ministry’s negative forecast. Now, even the Belgian parliament is questioning whether these drones were real," Gonchar pointed out. At the same time, the diplomat emphasized that continuing the anti-Russian course would be "absolutely pointless." "I wish ordinary Belgians understood this and realized what kind of future their country is facing thanks to some of its politicians and servicemen," he concluded.