Theo Francken

Theo Francken (born 7 February 1978) is a Belgian politician who has been serving as the Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade in the De Wever government since February 2025. He previously was a member of the Chamber of Representatives between 2010 and 2025. He is a member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a conservativeFlemish nationalist party.

Francken was made state secretary for asylum and migration in the firstCharles Michel cabinet in 2014, where he became prominent for his controversial zero tolerance approach to illegal immigration in the midst of the European migrant crisis. Francken and the N-VA opposed Belgium's support of the Global Compact for Migration, leading them to exit the coalition government in December 2018 and thereby trigger its collapse.

During the formation of the De Wever government, Francken served as faction leader, replacing Peter De Roover, who had become Speaker of the Chamber of Representatives. Following the swearing-in when Francken was appointed Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Trade he was succeeded as faction leader by Axel Ronse.