Theo Francken
Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade of Belgium
Theo Francken has served as Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Belgium since February 2025, in the Bart De Wever I government. He negotiated the N-VA's coalition agreement on defence and secured a significant budget increase for the Belgian armed forces. He was Vice-President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 2023 to 2025, having chaired the Belgian delegation to the Assembly from 2019 and been a member since 2018. He led the N-VA parliamentary group in 2024–25 and emerged as a defence specialist during the 2019–24 legislature. A Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2025, he served as Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration and Administrative Simplification from 2014 to 2018 in the Michel I government. He has been the mayor of Lubbeek since 2013. Earlier, he was deputy chief of staff to Flemish Vice-Minister-President Geert Bourgeois (2009–10), a scientific collaborator for the N-VA faction in the Flemish Parliament (2008–09), an advisor in Bourgeois's cabinet (2004–08) and a scientific collaborator for the VU faction (2001–04). He studied Educational Sciences at KU Leuven and is the author of five books, most recently Ruins of Vivaldi (2024).
Updated: August 12, 2026