Newsroom

Belgium has decided to provide emergency aid to India, which is facing a particularly virulent wave of COVID-19. This aid consists of 9000 vials of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug used in the treatment of COVID-19. These vials come from the strategic stock of the FPS Public Health. This emergency aid will leave in principle this Friday April 30.

Today, Belgium is sending 760,000 masks to Conakry via the emergency aid mechanism B-FAST. In doing so, our country is responding to the request for aid that Guinea submitted to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) as part of the fight against COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, Guinea has been affected by the pandemic. However, the health situation is further complicated by a measles epidemic, an epidemic of yellow fever and recently also some new Ebola infections which together put an enormous strain on the medical facilities. Belgium wishes to express its solidarity with the Guinean population, which is undergoing a great deal of suffering.

In view of its difficulties in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in its hospitals, Slovakia has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism (ECPM). The request formiulated is a temporary reinforcement of the intensive care capacities (related to COVID-19).

No country in the world will be safe from COVID-19 as long as not all countries are safe. That is why the Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir is making 4 million euros available for the COVAX initiative. COVAX is a global collaboration with governments and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are available and accessible to all countries worldwide.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Goffin participates today to a high-level debate of the United Nations Security Council on the theme "Global governance after the COVID-19 pandemic".

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 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.

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+.

Yesterday, a virtual High-Level Pledging Event took place for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. For the last five years war has torn apart the country, whose population depends mostly on humanitarian aid to survive. The current Covid-19 pandemic makes it even more crucial for the international community to keep funding UN programs that are in place, and to allocate new resources to support Yemen’s healthcare system.