US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White has indicated that he will backtrack on his threat to enforce a US travel ban against Vooruit party leader Conner Rousseau, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday.
White triggered a diplomatic row last week after criticising a judicial investigation into suspected illegal circumcisions in the Jewish community in Antwerp.
White also lashed out at Belgium's Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) and Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau, who had previously compared the US administration's deportation tactics to measures in Nazi Germany.
On Sunday, the ambassador said that Rousseau was banned from travelling to the US.
However, following a meeting on Tuesday with Belgium's Foreign Minister, Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés), White appears to have decided against enforcing the travel restrictions.
The two met in Prévot's office on Tuesday morning, where they had a "frank and direct exchange" during which Prévot noted that "the judiciary is independent and impartial in Belgium, and that therefore its action cannot suffer from political or diplomatic interference".
The Foreign Minister further expressed his disapproval of the ambassador's comments that personally targeted Belgian politicians. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, White "acknowledged that ad personam aggressive comments were not appropriate."
During the meeting, Prévot stressed that "it is now important to turn the page" and work on strengthening the partnership and "respectful cooperation" with the US. "In this spirit, the US Ambassador has indicated that he will lift the idea of travel restrictions on Mr. Rousseau," said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the statement issued by the Ministry following the meeting on Tuesday, it was noted that the "current US administration is not comparable to the Nazi regime" and that "when a comparison is made with Nazism, productive debate ends."
According to the statement, Prévot took time during the meeting with the ambassador to "reiterate the Belgian government's firm commitment to combating all forms of antisemitism and to increasing efforts to this end."
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This article was updated with additional information from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
