Maxime PREVOT

🇧🇪 Belgium joins the signatories of this statement in reiterating the importance of respecting international law and, consequently, of putting an end to the illegal settlements and their expansion. 👇 Joint Statement from the leaders of the E4 + Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands on the situation in the West Bank governo.it/en/node/31890

🇨🇩 (FR/NL) La nouvelle épidémie d’Ebola en RDC est suivie de très près par la Belgique, en coordination avec les autorités sanitaires et nos partenaires internationaux. À travers sa coopération internationale, la Belgique soutient concrètement la réponse sur le terrain : expertise scientifique, renforcement des tests de dépistage, analyse du virus, recherche et aide humanitaire. Grâce au soutien belge, l’Institut de Médecine Tropicale d’Anvers contribue notamment au séquençage du virus et au renforcement des tests sur place. Dans un contexte marqué par les conflits et la fragilité des systèmes de santé, il demeure essentiel de soutenir les capacités locales et la coordination internationale. Investir dans la santé mondiale, c’est aussi prévenir la propagation des crises sanitaires. La Belgique reste pleinement mobilisée aux côtés de ses partenaires africains, européens et internationaux. —— De nieuwe ebola-uitbraak in de DRC wordt door België op de voet gevolgd, in samenwerking met de gezondheidsautoriteiten en onze internationale partners. Via zijn internationale samenwerking ondersteunt België concreet de respons ter plaatse: wetenschappelijke expertise, versterking van de screeningtests, analyse van het virus, onderzoek en humanitaire hulp. Dankzij de Belgische steun draagt het Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde in Antwerpen met name bij aan de sequentiebepaling van het virus en de versterking van de tests ter plaatse. In een context die gekenmerkt wordt door conflicten en kwetsbare gezondheidszorgstelsels, blijft het essentieel om de lokale capaciteiten en de internationale coördinatie te ondersteunen. Investeren in de wereldgezondheid betekent ook het voorkomen van de verspreiding van gezondheidscrises. België blijft zich ten volle inzetten aan de zijde van zijn Afrikaanse, Europese en internationale partners. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiqueRDCongo

As a member of the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes, Belgium urges all parties to uphold the ceasefire and ensure humanitarian access, especially as a new Ebola outbreak makes every delay costlier. We fully support Angola 🇦🇴 in its efforts to foster an inclusive national dialogue in the DRC. Time is of the essence. @BelgiumMFA

🇸🇪 In Sweden today for the @NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting. And there is something powerful about being hosted by Sweden, because four years ago, Sweden was not a NATO member. It joined entirely of its own free will, without any pressure, as a sovereign democratic choice. Today, it welcomes us. That alone is one of the clearest results of Putin’s war of aggression: more NATO, more Europe, more unity. The exact opposite of what Moscow intended. Belgium is back on the stage. Our country has made a significant increase in defence spending of all allies. But this is not about numbers in a report. It is about what we do together to protect our citizens. Belgian troops are reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank in Romania. Belgian fighter jets have been securing Arctic and Baltic airspace over the past years. A Russian shadow fleet vessel was intercepted off our coast. A minesweeper is deployed to the Mediterranean, ready to participate in the defensive coalition led by France and UK in the Strait of Hormuz. One thing I stressed to my colleagues: our unity is our strongest asset. The only people who benefit from the spectacle of allied divisions are the ones watching with popcorn in the Kremlin and in Tehran. We must not give them that satisfaction. #strongertogheter @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumNATO

🇱🇻🇪🇪🇱🇹 Russia accuses Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania of preparing hostile actions. Pure fantasy. This from a country that has invaded its neighbour, bombs civilians daily, deports children, and runs a huge disinformation machine. The same country that is responsible for recent incidents with drones in the Baltic, and then cries provocation. The absurdity would be laughable but this is jeopardizing security. Latvia has categorically denied these allegations as disinformation. Because that is exactly what they are. Belgium stands in full solidarity with Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. A threat against one Member State is a threat against our entire Union and against NATO. @BelgiumMFA

🇮🇱 The images circulating of the treatment of the Flotilla activists are deeply disturbing. People held captive, bound, forced face down, and a government minister broadcasting their humiliation on social media. Belgian citizens are among those detained. This situation is unacceptable. It violates the most basic standards of human dignity. All detainees must be treated with dignity and released without delay. I have asked that the Ambassador of Israel to Belgium be summoned to express our indignation and ask for explanations. I have also instructed our diplomats to secure consular access to our nationals as a matter of urgency. Their rights must be guaranteed. The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic and demands the full attention of the international community. Belgium is and will remain active in raising this attention through every diplomatic channel. @BelgiumMFA

Excellent meeting with @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte today. We exchanged views ahead of my visit to Helsingborg for the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting, where we will prepare the upcoming NATO Summit and focus on what matters most: keeping our Alliance strong, credible and ready. That means continued support for Ukraine, stronger defence investment, and a defence industry able to produce faster, at scale, and on both sides of the Atlantic. Belgium will continue to play its full part. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumNATO

🇪🇺 Good to finally discuss international cooperation through a humanitarian lens at today’s Foreign Affairs Council on Development. In an increasingly brutal and unstable world, cooperation is reinventing itself daily, often around security. But there must remain space for international cooperation driven by something more fundamental: solidarity. That is a value Europe must continue to carry and embody. The need has never been more evident. The hantavirus crisis, the Ebola outbreak in the Great Lakes, both show how much cooperation focused on global public goods, particularly health, truly matters. Belgium has made health, climate and stability the three priorities of its development cooperation. We believe Europe distinguishes itself not by extracting resources from others, but by building genuine partnerships based on mutual interest. Global Gateway remains essential but it must be measured not by the volume of projects, but by their quality and real impact. Europe cannot leave a vacuum, especially in Africa. Because others will fill it, with an approach that is far more transactional. 🇫🇷🇩🇪 I also had valuable bilateral exchanges with my French colleague @CaroitEleonore and German colleague Reem Alabali Radovan @BMZ_Bund in the margins of the Council. Always useful to coordinate between like-minded partners. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiuminEU

🇦🇪 The reported drone strike near the Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE is highly alarming. Any military activity affecting or threatening nuclear facilities is unacceptable and risks consequences far beyond national borders. Nuclear safety and security can never be compromised. Nowhere. Belgium strongly condemns any action that puts these principles at risk and expresses its full solidarity with the UAE. @BelgiumMFA @ABZayed @BelgiuminUAE

🇲🇩 In Chișinău today for the 135th ministerial session of the Council of Europe @CoE. 46 member states around the table. In a Europe shaken by war, polarisation and foreign interference, this organisation must remain our democratic anchor. Three priorities for Belgium. First, justice for Ukraine. Belgium will be among the founding states of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Justice is not an optional extra in diplomacy, it is a condition for lasting peace. Serious violations of international law cannot go unpunished. Second, migration. We must be able to talk about it clearly, without taboos and without naivety. But never at the expense of what underpins our democracies: the rule of law, the independence of the Strasbourg Court, and the universality of human rights. A common declaration has been adopted by unanimity. On the topic of migration, @coe has managed to bring together national viewpoints and the Court's case-law addressing the contemporary challenges of migration and ensuring the full respect for the ECHR. Third, democratic resilience. Disinformation is a strategy aimed at dividing our societies and undermining our institutions. Europe needs a coordinated response to disinformation and hybrid threats. 46 member states united in Chișinău. That is powerful. But our family is not yet complete. Kosova has held elections recognised as free and fair. Its citizens deserve to be part of the Council of Europe and to benefit from the protection it offers. Belgium will continue to push for that.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Thank you for the warm welcome to Moldova, dear @MihaiPopsoi! 🤝 @BelgiumMFA @BelgiuminCoE @BelgiumKosovo @KonjufcaGlauk

🇺🇦 Last night, Russia launched 1,560 drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine. It was one of the most devastating attacks since the start of this war. Homes flattened in Kyiv. A school destroyed. Energy infrastructure hit. At least five civilians killed, dozens injured, people still trapped under rubble. A UN humanitarian vehicle deliberately struck twice in Kherson. Days after proposing a ceasefire, Russia answered with terror. So let no one ask where the obstacle to peace lies. Belgium unequivocally condemns these indiscriminate attacks. Our deepest condolences go to the victims and their families. Our support for Ukraine is not wavering. We have contributed to the PURL initiative so that Ukraine can shoot down the missiles that Russia keeps sending. And we will continue to tighten the pressure on Russia’s war economy, sanction by sanction, until Moscow chooses diplomacy over destruction. Belgium stands with Ukraine. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumUkraine @andrii_sybiha

🇹🇷 (EN/FR) Five days in Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara) for the first Belgian trade mission led by Her Majesty Queen Mathilde @MonarchieBe, the largest (428 participants) ever organised in that country. Turkey is our fifth-largest trading partner and we are the eighth-largest investor there. Turkey is undoubtedly a member of the European family. It is a strategic hub for energy matters, an ally within NATO (with the second-largest army after the US) and a key player in the security of Europe’s south-eastern flank. Beyond strengthening our economic cooperation, this mission has helped to bring our political relations closer together. It provided an opportunity for meetings at the highest level: President Erdoğan, Vice-President Yilmaz and numerous ministers, including my counterpart in Foreign Affairs, @HakanFidan, to discuss major international issues (the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz, Ukraine…) as well as our bilateral relations and those with the EU. It was also an opportunity to reiterate that we must diversify our partners and bring the Turkish and European economies closer together, given the immense commercial potential this offers. To this end, the Customs Union deserves to be modernised: we cannot do business in 2026 under a framework signed thirty years ago... it would be paradoxical not to step up our cooperation with our immediate neighbours, at the risk of maintaining a relationship of dependence on geopolitical powers located much further away. We highlighted the strengths of our companies in the port and logistics, biopharmaceuticals and healthcare, energy transition, digitalisation, Industry 5.0, defence and aerospace sectors. This mission also provided an opportunity to discover Turkey’s impressive industrial base, particularly in the defence industry. Around forty new commercial agreements and partnerships were signed, bringing this highly strategic mission to a successful close, during which no issue was left unaddressed. —— Cinq jours en Turquie (Istanbul et Ankara) pour la première mission économique belge sous la conduite de Sa Majesté la Reine Mathilde, la plus grande (428 participants) jamais organisée dans ce pays. La Turquie est notre 5e partenaire commercial et nous y sommes le 8e investisseur. La Turquie, c'est incontestablement un membre de la famille européenne. Hub stratégique pour les questions énergétiques, allié au sein de l’Otan (2e plus grande armée après USA) et pour la sécurité du flanc sud-est européen. Au delà du renforcement de notre coopération économique, cette mission a permis de rapprocher nos relations politiques. Ce fut l’occasion de rencontres au plus haut niveau : le Président Erdoğan, le Vice-Président Yilmaz ainsi que de très nombreux ministres dont mon homologue aux Affaires étrangères Fidan pour un échange sur les grands enjeux internationaux (Moyen-Orient, détroit d'Ormuz, Ukraine…) ainsi que sur nos relations bilatérales et avec l’UE. L’occasion aussi de rappeler que nous devons diversifier nos partenaires et rapprocher les économies turque et européenne au vu de l’immense potentiel commercial que cela offre. À cet effet, l’Union douanière mérite d’être modernisée: on ne fait pas du business en 2026 avec un cadre signé trente ans auparavant... ce serait paradoxal de ne pas intensifier notre coopération avec nos voisins directs, au risque de maintenir des relations de dépendance vis-à-vis de puissances géopolitiques situées bien plus loin. Nous avons mis en avant les atouts de nos entreprises dans les secteurs portuaire et logistique, biopharma et santé, transition énergétique, digitalisation, industrialisation 5.0, défense et aérospatial. Cette mission a également permis de découvrir l’impressionnant tissu industriel turc, notamment dans l’industrie de défense. Environ 40 nouveaux accords commerciaux et partenariats ont été signés, clôturant en beauté cette mission très stratégique, durant laquelle aucune question n’a été éludée. @BelgiumMFA

🇺🇦 Nearly 20,500 Ukrainian children were deported and forcibly transferred to Russia since the start of this war. Children ripped from their families, their homes, their identity. Subjected to indoctrination, militarised education, forced adoption. Their Ukrainian identity systematically erased. This is a deliberate policy to steal a generation. Today, the EU adopted sanctions against 16 individuals and 7 entities directly responsible for these practices, from officials in occupied territories to the state institutions running re-education camps disguised as youth programmes. Belgium has always put children in conflict at the centre of its foreign policy. Because there is no greater failure of our international system than when we cannot protect children. We reiterate our urgent call on Russia and Belarus to immediately ensure the safe and unconditional return of all unlawfully deported Ukrainian children. Every single one. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiuminEU @BelgiumUkraine

🇮🇱🇵🇸 After months of deadlock, thanks to the change of government in Budapest, the EU decided today on new additional sanctions against violent Israeli settlers and settler organisations, as well as against leading Hamas figures. On behalf of Belgium, I have been pleading for this at the European table for a very long time. These sanctions send a clear message: extremism and violence carry consequences. The illegal settlements and the rise in settler violence against Palestinians are unacceptable and undermine any prospect of a two-state solution. At the same time, the EU sanctions leaders of Hamas, responsible for the horrific attacks of October 7th. Hamas must be disarmed and excluded from any role in the future of Palestine. The two-state solution is the only path to lasting peace and security, for Israelis and Palestinians alike. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiuminEU

🇨🇳 From 27 April until 1 May, I paid a visit to China. The visits to several cities allowed me to discover the many ways in which Belgium and China cooperate.   I started my journey with Hong Kong 🇭🇰, where I met with Chief Executive John Lee and Financial Secretary Paul Chan. I gathered valuable insights during my visit to Cainiao’s e-Hub at Hong Kong International Airport and at a briefing on the current state of the shipping sector at Anglo-Eastern, a Belgian-founded company. A flyover of the Northern Metropolis gave me an insight into the scale of this project and the potential for economic cooperation with Belgium. This stopover in Hong Kong also provided an opportunity to meet with the Belgian (business) community and to celebrate together the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of Belgium in 1926.   I travelled from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Zhejiang, where I visited several companies: the R&D laboratory of the Belgian company Syensqo in Shanghai and Alibaba (that operates the Cainiao Hub in Liège Airport), Geely (that has an important production site in Ghent) and Deep Robotics in Hangzhou. I visited an art exhibition that highlights Belgium’s vibrant artistic scene and met the Belgian community in Shanghai during a reception in the garden of the Consulate General.   In Beijing, I had a discussion with my counterpart Wang Yi during a meeting and a lunch. Noting that both countries celebrate the 55th anniversary of their bilateral relationship this year, we pointed to our common interests and expressed a shared willingness to strengthen dialogue and cooperation. We talked about international issues as well. I also had a meeting with the Chinese Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng, with whom I talked about economic and trade issues. During both meetings, I stressed that Belgium is open for economic cooperation with China, but that the relation needs to be balanced and mutually beneficial. The asymetric trade needs to be corrected.    I discovered the Chinese history and culture during my visits to TRB, a temple in the hutong area that has been transformed into a multifunctional space by a Belgian, and the Forbidden City. There, I highlighted the fruitful cooperation between Belgian and Chinese experts during the upcoming restoration of the China House in Brussels.   On the last day of my visit, I climbed the Great Wall and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I visited a cancer hospital in Langfang, where the proton therapy center is equipped with machines made by the Belgian company IBA. I ended my visit by meeting the Belgian community in Beijing during a dinner reception at the embassy. The challenges and opportunities between Europe and China are immense. China’s progress will not slow down. It is also up to Europe to adapt and take action, seeking partnership whilst safeguarding its interests.  @BelgiumMFA @BelgiuminChina @BelgiumHK @BEinShanghai

🇧🇪🇪🇺 On this #EuropeDay, Belgium reaffirms its commitment to an EU built on democracy, the rule of law, human rights & solidarity. A strong and united EU is key to remain a credible & reliable global partner, strengthening our capacity to safeguard security and prosperity.

🇺🇦 Belgium joins the growing coalition supporting the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Together with our partners, we stand for accountability, justice and the rule of law. There must be no impunity. Those responsible will be held accountable. I call upon other states, in Europe and beyond, to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. We hope that broad support for the Agreement will be registered at the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers meeting on May 14-15 in Chişinǎu. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumUkraine @BELinCoE @andrii_sybiha @coe

🇺🇳 Today in Geneva, I represented Belgium for its 4th Universal Periodic Review at the @UNHumanRights Council. An exercise where every UN member state has its human rights record examined by its peers. All 193 countries, on equal footing. Some might ask: why would a country voluntarily submit itself to scrutiny? Because that is exactly the point. Speaking openly about where we fall short is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of confidence in the system we helped build. If we ask others to uphold human rights, we must be willing to hold ourselves to the same standard. Human rights are in Belgium’s DNA. The universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights are the guiding principles of everything we do, at home and on the international stage. This review, based on the follow-up of 251 recommendations accepted in 2021, is how we turn that commitment into accountability. In a world where the very concept of universal rights is under pressure, exercises like the UPR matter more than ever. @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumUNGeneva