King Filip warns budget deficit and June heatwave threaten cohesion in National Day speech

King Filip used his 20 July address, on the eve of Belgium's National Day, to frame the country's overlapping crises as a test of social cohesion. Recorded in his office at the Royal Palace in Brussels, the speech ranged from the deadly June heatwave to strained public finances, unrest in education, and wars that flout international law. The King repeatedly returned to the idea that shared vulnerability demands a shared response.

A deadly early-summer heatwave

Belgium experienced a heatwave of exceptional intensity and duration in June, earlier in the year than usual. The King said it had cost hundreds of lives and put medical staff and emergency services under extreme pressure. Excess mortality during the period reached 2,000 deaths above normal, according to figures reported the previous week.

We have all suffered as a result, but it is the most vulnerable who are once again paying the heaviest price: the elderly, those in precarious living conditions, and those who are entirely on their own.

The King returned to the theme of vulnerability later in the speech, highlighting those with dementia. An exhibition on the subject is on display in the Palace's Salle des Glaces during its summer opening. He praised professionals and associations who care for such patients and posed a question.

Should we not take example from them and put more humanity and tenderness into our society?

Public finances under strain

On the economy, the sovereign was direct. Fiscal measures are needed to reduce the budget deficit and manage debt, he said, against a backdrop of unpredictable interest rates and energy prices. He added that investment in defence has become unavoidable.

I am convinced that our governments will be able to overcome these obstacles, through mutual consultation, and with socially just solutions.

The defence budget is set to rise from 8 to 12 billion euros per year to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP. Some parties have questioned the structural increase. By calling the spending inevitable, the King aligned himself with the De Wever government's position.

Education system under pressure

Filip devoted a passage to schools, acknowledging the enormous pressure on the teaching community. Nearly all of society's problems converge there and weigh more heavily than ever on teachers' shoulders, he said. The French-speaking education system in Wallonia and Brussels was hit by heavy strikes and protests in recent months against deep government savings plans, with pupils and teachers taking to the streets and some demonstrations in the capital turning into grim unrest. The King expressed hope that calm and mutual respect would return by the start of the new school year.

Wars and the rules-based order

Without naming specific conflicts, the King condemned states and armed groups that abandon international law and wage senseless and cruel wars under false pretexts. Last year he had gone further, denouncing the situation in Gaza as a disgrace for humanity and taking a harder line than his own government.

These crises must not make us forget the great global challenges. Solving them means acting together, ensuring that common rules are genuinely respected, and supporting the institutions that are their guardians.

A call for cohesion

The address closed with a call to focus on what unites rather than what divides. Filip cited poverty, climate change, the decline of biodiversity, and the depletion of natural resources as challenges that senseless wars should not be allowed to eclipse. He described a two-day domestic economic mission with business leaders in Flanders and Wallonia that had opened doors and forged new partnerships. Representatives of public employment services later confirmed to him that closer cooperation and greater labour mobility between regions could help create more employment.