Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot warned the American ambassador that interference in the country’s internal affairs is unacceptable. The dispute concerns raids in the Jewish community.
The American ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, played down the diplomatic dispute with the Belgian government on Tuesday. The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, summoned him and interpreted his reservations regarding his statements about anti-Semitism in Brussels.
White on Monday sharply criticized Belgium for raids by Antwerp police on the homes of three moguls last May and the accompanying investigation by prosecutors. According to Jewish tradition, a mohel performs the ritual circumcision of boys, and the mohels of Antwerp reportedly performed these procedures without the presence of a doctor. Under Belgian law, all medical procedures must be performed by licensed physicians, but mohels are usually unlicensed. White demanded that the government end the prosecution of these men.
Prévot refuses to interfere
Prévot flatly rejected the ambassador’s claims. After their meeting on Tuesday, Belgian diplomacy confirmed that White had been made aware of the “limits of the functions of an ambassador accredited to the country”. “Any interference in Belgium’s internal affairs constitutes a violation of these basic diplomatic rules,” the ministry said.
In his posts on social networks on Monday, the US ambassador also attacked the Belgian Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, on whom he also seemingly put pressure to intervene in the mentioned case.
White to disagreements with Belgium
In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, White tried to downplay the dispute. “I know that Belgium is not anti-Semitic, but inaction in this particular case could appear anti-Semitic,” he declared. He told top Belgian officials, including Prévot, he said, that Brussels and Washington remain “friends and can have disagreements.”
