The US Ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, will meet with Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) on Monday afternoon, following last week’s media reporting on a leaked internal government document about the relationship between the two countries.
A leaked internal document from Belgium's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first reported on by the Financial Times, stated that Belgium should no longer consider the United States, led by President Donald Trump, as a reliable ally.
In a press release on Monday morning, White stressed that he was “extremely disappointed” that anyone at the Foreign Ministry would “espouse these opinions”. According to him, Monday afternoon’s meeting will offer “an opportunity to reaffirm the strength and enduring importance of the US-Belgium relationship”.
Last week, Prévot’s office stated that the document in question was drawn up as a so-called “reflection paper”. That, they said, it only logical: it is the department’s task to analyse the international situation and, on that basis, to formulate policy proposals.
However, the document did not form part of a finalised political agreement on a strategy towards the United States, and was not a general guideline.
The Brussels Times contacted Prévot’s office for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
