The Minister of Defense and her immediate family had to live under police protection.
On May 17, 2021, Jürgen Conings disappeared after stealing heavy weapons from the Bourg-Léopold barracks. A manhunt then begins to try to find this corporal with extremist ideas who threatens the government, his employers and virologists. For Ludivine Dedonder, her husband and son, who live under police protection, the episode is particularly trying. “It was a difficult period on a moral and human level because it was necessary to ensure my safety. We had escorts. The school was closed. The municipal police passed by the house.”
In his letters, the radicalized soldier did not mention Ludivine Dedonder by name, but he threatened the government. As Chief of Defense, she had to be protected. “It wasn’t easy to live with. Even more so for those around me. My little boy got sick from it, he got an ulcer. There’s the media, TV… he hears all that. I tried to reassure him as much as possible.”