[EXCLUSIVE] Leaked WhatsApps between ex-EU commissioner Reynders and senior Belgian spy reveal attempts to bury allegations of his possible Russia ties
, 23 October 2026 07:00
“The ‘job’ … has been mostly accomplished,” said a senior official in Belgium’s spy service, Hugues Brulin, in a WhatsApp message to the Belgian then EU commissioner, Didier Reynders.
“Bravo for the work you did,” said Reynders.
It was back in 2022, and, at least on the surface, they were chatting about a staff reshuffle inside Belgium’s intelligence service, La Sûreté de l’Etat/Veiligheid van de Staat (VSSE) — which was already a peculiar thing for Brulin to be doing on WhatsApp with an EU official.
But their messages, seen by EUobserver and published in full below, were now also evidence in a Belgian police investigation into Reynders on money-laundering charges, which painted them in the light of a potentially criminal conspiracy.
They reconfirmed that Belgian authorities were looking into wider allegations of Reynders’ possible collusion with Russia.
Brulin’s real “job” had been to stop the VSSE from probing Reynders and his potential Russia links, according to five former and current Belgian intelligence officers who spoke to EUobserver.
And Brulin also WhatsApp-ed Reynders on how to “counterattack” a Russia whistleblower.
The 68-year-old liberal politician from Liège, in French-speaking southern Belgium, had had a glittering career before his sudden fall from grace in December 2024, when Belgian police raided his properties, and before he was subsequently charged in 2025 with having laundered some €1m via the ING Bank, using lottery tickets and cash deposits.
Reynders had been EU justice commissioner from 2019 until 30 November 2024 (just four days before the police raid) and Belgium’s foreign and defence minister from 2011 to 2019.
And Belgium had vetted and cleared him to read “top secret” national, EU, and Nato documents.
Meanwhile, Europe was scandalised to learn, on 10 October, that Germany’s former spy chief had been arrested for selling secrets.
But if a figure with Reynders’ CV was also found guilty of corruption and foreign collusion, it would be yet another security fiasco for Western allies.
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If a figure with Reynders’ CV was also found guilty of corruption and foreign collusion, it would be yet another security fiasco for Western allies. (Source: EPA/Ronald Wittek)
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver’s foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.+ Follow author by email
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