After seven days of silence on the issue, Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) finally responded on Monday to the comments made by US Ambassador Bill White that caused a diplomatic row last week.
White has been making headlines in Belgium over the past week for his comments urging the country to drop a judicial case involving three mohels – Jewish men trained in ritual male circumcision – who are suspected of carrying out the procedure without required medical supervision.
"I do not believe it is the ambassador's job to constantly disrupt national politics," De Wever said. "In diplomatic relations, it is the Foreign Affairs Minister who is responsible for determining how an ambassador should function in our country."
First, White launched an extraordinary social media attack on Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), calling on him to intervene and demanding that Belgium do "a much better job" on the issue of antisemitism.
Later, he also lashed out against the Flemish socialist (Vooruit) party leader Conner Rousseau, who had previously compared the Trump administration’s deportation tactics to Adolf Hitler’s measures in Nazi Germany. This weekend, White said that Rousseau had officially been barred from entering the United States.
He later told The Brussels Times that he had "reached out" to Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) Belgium's Foreign Minister, to discuss the issue and "work together to de-escalate".
'Not the way to treat allies'
De Wever said on Monday he had followed the situation "with great surprise". "Making statement after statement, that does not seem to be the way to treat each other as allies," said the prime minister.
According to De Wever, it is up to Prévot to take action. "What I am going to say to him, I will say to him, I am not going to say it to [reporters]. But in the first instance, it is Mr Prévot who must take action in this matter."
Last Tuesday, Prévot summoned White so his ministry could remind the US ambassador of the limits of his diplomatic role. The Foreign Ministry also highlighted that personal attacks on a member of the government and interference in domestic affairs breach essential diplomatic protocols.
De Wever told reporters on Monday that American diplomacy seemingly works differently from Belgian diplomacy. "The Americans have a tradition of sending out confidants of the president. Some of these figures have very outspoken political opinions and are not afraid to express them."
Still, he believes that the current approach is not helpful. "It makes no sense whatsoever, and it serves no purpose. We have independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression here. To me, linking diplomatic sanctions to that seems like something we have never seen before."
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