Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs

Today is International Human Rights Day. Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Goffin confirms that Belgium remains committed to the protection and promotion of all human rights for all.

From the 23rd to the 28th of November, the general Director for Bilateral Affairs of the Federal Foreign Office visited the Kingdom of Bahrein and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Today, Philippe Goffin, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence, opens the "E10 Dialogue" in Brussels. This two-day meeting brings together the ten current elected members of the UN Security Council and the five incoming elected members. The aim of the meeting is to increase cooperation between the elected members and to contribute as such to the efficient functioning of the Security Council. Our country is organizing the meeting together with Kuwait, which will complete its two-year mandate on 31 December, and Tunisia, which will join on 1 January 2020. This is only the second time that a similar initiative has been taken.

On the night of 26 November 2019, the Republic of Albania was hit by a violent earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. Dozens of victims lost their lives and hundreds were injured. In the affected areas around the port city of Durres, many houses have been damaged. Through the emergency mechanism B-FAST, relief workers were immediately ready to respond positively to a call for international assistance from the affected country. 

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden attach the utmost importance to the preservation and full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) on Iran’s nuclear programme by all parties involved. The nuclear agreement was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council and is a key instrument for the global non-proliferation regime and a major contribution to stability in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders calls for a continued commitment to strengthen the Kimberley Process (KP) and to extend the definition of conflict diamonds. "Belgium is satisfied with the progress made by the Kimberley Process during its plenary meeting in New Delhi last week. Our country will keep working to extend the definition of conflict diamonds. This is indeed crucial to keep leading a credible and efficient fight against conflict diamonds."

In 1989, the international community made a historic commitment to all children by adopting the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Today, the Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrates its 30th anniversary.

After two days of political summits and economic contacts in Beijing, the Belgian economic mission has just arrived in Shanghai, the economic and financial heart of China. In addition to research and innovation, e-commerce, bio-tech and the luxury goods sector are also high on the agenda. All this will result in about thirty commercial agreements between Belgian and Chinese partners, which will hopefully give a positive boost to our bilateral trade relations in the future.