“Any further provocation could lead to unnecessary escalation,” Maxime Prévot tells Bill White

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot has warned U.S. Ambassador Bill White that further provocations could create an unnecessary escalation.

Prévot said he repeated his objection to statements that personally targeted Belgian political leaders during a meeting with White, whom he had summoned. He said such remarks by an ambassador accredited to Belgium could not be tolerated.

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Any further provocation could lead to unnecessary escalation.

The minister also said the principle worked both ways. Belgium would not accept a Belgian ambassador making personal attacks against an American official, he said.

In a written statement sent to the media, Prévot referred to the rules and practices governing an ambassador’s role, including mutual respect and non-interference in domestic politics. Diplomats should not publicly lecture one another or intervene in the other country’s political debate, he said.

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Such statements by an ambassador accredited to Belgium cannot be tolerated.