defence
Frederik Vansina, the new Chief of Defense. — © Dieter Telemans
Frederik Vansina becomes the new Chief of Defense (CHOD). The former air force boss succeeds Admiral Michel Hofman. Francisca Bostyn and Eric Snoeck, who lead State Security and the federal police respectively, no longer do this ‘ad interim’.
By choosing 59-year-old Vansina, the government is placing an experienced, diplomatic pilot in the Defense cockpit. Vansina is a three-star general and has been at the top of the army for years. He headed the air component and rose to the position of deputy CHOD last year. Vansina is perfectly bilingual, enjoys communicating and has extensive diplomatic skills, allowing him to deal well with the vagaries of politics.
The choice was no longer really surprising. Vansina is from the Dutch language role and comes from the air component, two boxes with which he rotates perfectly with his two predecessors, a French-speaking sailor (Michel Hofman) and a Dutch-speaking army officer (Marc Compernol). But much more important is the experience he can provide. He led the air component when the Belgian F-16s were active over Syria and Iraq. As an F-16 pilot, he spent thousands of hours in the cockpit and participated in several combat missions. He also had the base of Kleine Brogel under his wing for a while.
State security
The government also made decisions at the other security departments. Francisca Bostyn has been confirmed as head of State Security. She had been leading the service on an interim basis for two years. The West Flemish can present beautiful letters of nobility. This includes positions at the military intelligence service Adiv, NATO and Ocad. She has a CD&V label and worked in the cabinets of Herman Van Rompuy (CD&V), Yves Leterme (CD&V) and Koen Geens (CD&V).
Eric Snoeck may also drop the ‘interim’ label at the federal police. He took over from Marc De Mesmaeker as Commissioner General last year.
