Bart De Wever and Maxime Prévot believe the time is not yet ripe to recognize Palestine

Doubts

Now that the body of the very last hostage has been found and the Board of Peace and the Palestinian Committee have been baptized, the question arose whether the time has not come for recognition. In any case, CD&V and Vooruit pushed hard for it last week.

Conditions for Belgian recognition of Palestine are almost fulfilled: “Royal decree is already ready, we are still waiting for one hostage”

But according to both Prime Minister De Wever and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot, it is not all that simple. The Prime Minister expressed his doubts in Parliament, according to the public broadcaster. Especially because of the Board of Peace that Donald Trump has created and which he will chair himself.

Present and influential

In an extensive statement, Prévot elaborates on that reasoning. “Although the first condition regarding the hostages has undeniably been fulfilled today, honesty compels me to note that the second condition has unfortunately not yet been fulfilled, neither in letter nor in spirit,” Prévot said. He emphasizes that despite the establishment of the various bodies, Hamas is still present and influential in the governance of the Gaza Strip.

Just like De Wever, the Minister of Foreign Affairs also has serious doubts about the Board of Peace. Our country supported its creation, but in the meantime Donald Trump has given it a different interpretation. One that goes further than what has been agreed within the United Nations, it sounds.

Paradoxical

“Our concerns are numerous regarding the scope, governance and compatibility of the revised Board of Peace with the Charter of the United Nations (…) We cannot in any way support or legitimize a model of governance that openly seeks to replace the UN Security Council, and even the United Nations as a whole. A model that, moreover, concentrates virtually all power in the hands of a single person, without counterbalances. This runs counter to the foundations of international law, including sovereignty of states, and against the multilateral model that Belgium holds dear,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Not only Belgium, but the vast majority of EU countries consider the Board of Peace as illegitimate. “It would therefore be all the more paradoxical to invoke it now to state that the second condition of our political agreement has been met. I must remain consistent in this. Only a meaningful evolution of the Board of Peace and of the reality on the ground would make it possible to reconsider the issue. And I hope that it can happen as soon as possible.”