Leaked WhatsApp chats show Belgian spy chief helped shield ex-EU commissioner from Russia probe
A 2022 WhatsApp exchange between former EU commissioner Didier Reynders and senior Belgian intelligence officer Hugues Brulin reveals attempts to halt investigations into Reynders’ alleged Russian contacts.
WhatsApp messages from 2022 between Didier Reynders, then EU commissioner, and Hugues Brulin, a senior official in Belgium’s intelligence service, have been published as evidence in a police investigation. While the chat appears to discuss a routine VSSE staffing change, insiders say Brulin’s actual aim was to stop the agency from probing Reynders’ suspected links to Russia and to advise him on counter-attacking a whistleblower.
Reynders, a 68-year-old liberal from Liège, was raided in December 2024 and later charged in 2025 with laundering roughly €1 million through ING Bank using lottery tickets and cash deposits. He previously served as EU justice commissioner (2019-Nov 2024) and Belgium’s foreign and defence minister (2011-2019), and was cleared to view top-secret EU, national and NATO material. The leak adds to a wave of European security scandals, highlighted by the October arrest of Germany’s former intelligence chief for selling secrets.
Why it matters
The case exposes possible interference in intelligence work and raises concerns about security clearances for high-level officials.
In this story
