(10 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Antwerp, Belgium – 10 September 2025
1. Various of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever speaking to journalists
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Bart De Wever, Belgium Prime Minister:
"Well, we’re still getting the information on what happened in Poland. They’re talking about seven drones. This is not an accident. If seven drones were in the Polish airspace, it was probably a deliberate provocation of Russia against a NATO member state. And I think we have to react by imposing the fiercest possible sanctions on Russia because I think this has made clear that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not interested in peace, is not interesting in ceasefire, is provoking us. He is mocking us. And the only reaction can be that we support Ukraine even more and that we try to cripple the Russian economy as hard as we can."
3. Various of De Wever and Antwerp Mayor Els van Doesburg, greeting U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and walking together
4. Various of U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker speaking with van Doesburg, Belgian Minister for Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt, Belgian Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden and telling them that Russia flies drones toward Poland and then turning back toward Ukraine so Ukrainian defenses have to fire toward Poland
5. Noem and De Wever entering the meeting room and taking seats
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bart De Wever, Belgian Prime Minister:
"And there is indeed a clear link between terrorism and drug crime. Both are connected and both have a devastating impact on our society, poison the minds of young people, lead people into ruin and threaten our security and safety."
7. Various of Noem touring Belgian customs area and greeting a customs drug sniffing dog
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kristi Noem/US Secretary of Homeland Security
"Ports here, like this one, are a prime target for foreign terrorist organisations for cartels, for transnational criminal organisations that smuggle drugs and smuggle traffic through them. And here in Antwerp, you know that all too well. We had a robust conversation today about the cocaine, the drugs that are facilitated many times because of the amount of cargo that is coming through this port. You have done some commendable work. And I want to thank the prime minister for his years of advocacy in fighting this type of drug trafficking here in this country but also throughout Europe."
9. Man standing with dog
10. Various of the Belgian customs port scanning equipment, officials in the area
11. Various views from an elevated perspective of the Port of Antwerp
STORYLINE:
Belgium’s prime minister said the drone incident reported by Poland earlier on Wednesday "was probably a deliberate provocation of Russia,"
Bart De Wever was speaking on the same day he held talks on drugs with a U.S. official.
"This is not an accident. If seven drones were in the Polish airspace, it was probably a deliberate provocation of Russia against a NATO member state," De Wever said.
His remarks come after Poland said several Russian drones entered its territory over the course of many hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies, describing the incursion as an act of aggression carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it did not target Poland, while Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed.
The pair then boarded helicopters for an aerial tour of the port.
AP video shot by Mark Carlson
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