Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Philippe Goffin, welcomes the compromise reached by the members of the United Nations Security Council, which extends the "cross-border" mechanism aimed at providing humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people for 12 months via the Bab al-Hawa border point. However, the possibilities for delivering humanitarian aid through Bab al-Salam need to be improved.

July 11, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Srebrenica genocide. It was on July 11, 1995 that the town of Srebrenica fell into the hands of Bosnian-Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladic. In the days that followed, in less than a week they abducted and murdered more than 8,000 people, mostly men and teenagers, simply because they were Bosniacs.

The COVID-19 crisis has shaken up all habits and forced everyone to review certain operating modes. This was also the case for the FPS Foreign Affairs, where teleworking was the rule, even though it had to carry out one of its fundamental tasks: assisting Belgians abroad. Not simple when the crisis was worldwide: “It is as if you had 200 earthquakes and many aftershocks at the same time, including in Belgium”, says Minister Goffin.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Philippe Goffin (MR) states that: "Following the adoption on 30 June of the European recommendation which gradually authorises non-essential travel from some 15 countries outside the European Union, Belgium has begun consultations with experts from the public services concerned with a view to achieving a cautious reopening of its borders".

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Philippe Goffin welcomes the adoption on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 of new conclusions of the Council of the European Union concerning the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Africa, to which Belgium has actively contributed and which will serve as a basis for discussions with a view to redefining our relationship with our African partners.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Goffin welcomes the resolution adopted today by the United Nations Security Council in New York on the Covid-19 pandemic. With resolution 2532, the Security Council calls for ninety-day humanitarian ceasefires in all conflict zones around the world to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The Security Council thus builds on the call previously made by Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a global humanitarian ceasefire - an appeal to which Belgium has subscribed from the start and which is of great importance for several conflict zones, such as Yemen and Syria.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence Philippe Goffin is pleased that the international conference 'Supporting the future of Syria and the region', which took place through video conference today, on 30 June 2020, managed to draw attention to the difficult humanitarian situation of the Syrian population and to advocate renewed efforts for a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

The European Member States adopted today a recommendation that allows countries from the EU and Schengen zone (EU+) to allow non-essential travel from 14 countries outside the EU+ as of 1 July. On the basis of the EU framework, the Belgian government will soon evaluate when and under what conditions non-essential travellers from these 14 countries will be allowed to re-enter Belgian territory. In addition, the exceptions for essential travel will be extended. Students, highly qualified workers, persons taking part in meetings at international organisations and seafarers will again be able to travel to the EU+ from 1 July. EU+ citizens and third country nationals legally residing in the EU and their family members will also be able to travel again anywhere within the EU+.