“I am scandalized and ashamed that this important visit by European Defense Commissioner Kubilius to the top company Thales could not take place. How could this have happened? This must be thoroughly investigated,” Francken wrote on X. He added that he had been in contact with Interior Minister Bernard Quintin about the incident.
Kubilius met company executives in Brussels instead. “Thanks for rocket ramp-up with €10 million … Real impact — countering drones and saving lives,” he wrote on X, posting pictures with representatives of the manufacturer.
Thales Group is a French aerospace and defense giant. In 2024, the manufacturer boosted its laser-guided rocket production at its Herstal plant, supported by the Walloon regional government, according to the company’s website.
The demonstrators at the Herstal site were protesting the effectiveness of Wallonia’s ban on military equipment transiting to Israel, which has been in place since May 2024, according to Belgian news agency Belga. The measure followed reports that 70 tons of ammunition and explosives had passed through Liège Airport since the start of Israel’s retaliation in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack, where Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel, a large majority of whom were civilians, and took 251 hostages.
The attack prompted a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them civilians, displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s population and destroyed wide areas. The ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October 2025 led to the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages.