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BRUSSELS – A 35-day manhunt in Belgium involving helicopters, armored vehicles and 400 soldiers and police officers, as well as reinforcements from Germany and the Netherlands, culminated on Sunday with the discovery of a body believed to be a missing soldier with ties to the far right.
The federal prosecutor said the body was found in a forest where Private Jurgen Konings, 46, disappeared more than a month ago after threatening the government and virologists responsible for the country’s response to the coronavirus. At that time, the soldier was armed with four rocket launchers, a submachine gun and a semi-automatic pistol that he had taken from an army depot.
The attorney general said a preliminary investigation indicated that the body belonged to shooting instructor Mr. Konings, who in February was classified as a major national security threat. Authorities said he appeared to have shot himself.
In a letter to his girlfriend about the time he disappeared on May 17, Mr. Konings wrote that he would not give up without a quarrel.
“The so-called political elite and virologists are now deciding how you and I should live,” he wrote. He said virologists and the government had “taken everything from us”. “I don’t care if I die or not.”
The soldier’s disappearance comes at a time when Belgium has grown frustrated with the pandemic restrictions and the resulting economic damage. The country has seen a relatively high number of Covid-19 deaths per capita and has imposed one of the longest lockdowns in Europe.
The far-right camp in Belgium has used the pandemic to stoke public anger with the government. Reports from state security services early last spring warned of the “emergence of far-right individuals and groups spreading conspiracy theories” about Covid-19.
Credit Jürgen Konings…Belgian Federal Police
Mr Konings’ links to right-wing extremists were under investigation by the federal attorney general.
Before the soldier disappeared, he went to the house of Marc van Ranst, one of the top virologists active in Belgium’s response to Covid-19, and waited outside until he got home from work. But Dr. Van Ranst had taken his first afternoon off in 16 months and was already home.
This was not the first time that Dr Koonings had threatened Dr. Van Ranst, a well-known public health figure in Belgium. Dr. Van Ranst also angered the far right for speaking out against racism and xenophobia.
After the soldier’s disappearance, the Belgian authorities put Dr. Van Ranst and his family in a safe place. When the body was discovered on Sunday, Dr. Van Ranst, who was celebrating his 56th birthday in hiding, told local media he hoped “to return to normal life soon”.
Although he said he had little sympathy for Mr. Konings, he expressed his condolences to the soldier’s family.
Mr. Konings joined the army at the age of eighteen. But after making racist comments and threats, he lost his security clearance last year and was demoted, Belgian authorities said.
Although the security services listed the soldier as a “potentially dangerous extremist”, Belgium’s defense minister said at a parliamentary session that Mr Koonings had an entry card to an ammunition depot after being demoted.
Belgium is divided linguistically and politically between the wealthy Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and poorer French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Each has its own government and political landscape, and centrist politicians face pressure from the far left and the far right.
The challenge is particularly pronounced in Flanders, which includes Mr. Konings and Dr. Van Ranst as well as two right-wing parties. One of them, Vlaams Belang, a Flemish anti-immigration ultra-nationalist party, has gained significant support in recent years.
After Mr Konings’ disappearance, 45,000 people joined a Facebook group called “All United Behind Jürgen” before Facebook banned it. On Telegram, the encrypted messaging app, about 3,300 users exchange messages of solidarity in a group called “As One Man Behind Jürgen!”
But when the Facebook group called demonstrations in support of Mr Konings near his hometown a week later, only about 350 people attended.
The long, unsuccessful stalking has become a source of bitter jokes in a country roughly the size of Maryland. Last week, police discovered a backpack containing ammunition that they believe belonged to Mr. Konings.
“This place has been searched before, but the backpack may have been overlooked at that time,” the Federal Prosecutor’s Office told local media.
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