Latest news with #BartDeWever
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
China says FM Wang to visit EU, Germany, France next week
China said on Friday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head to Europe next week to hold talks with counterparts from the European Union, Germany, and France. "While in Brussels, Wang Yi will meet and have talks with Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a briefing where Wang's talks with the other European representatives were announced. AFP
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Germany's Merz joins EU migration hawks meet
BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took part in a meeting of EU immigration hawks in Brussels Thursday, participants confirmed, in a sign of Berlin's hardening stance on migration. It marked the first time a German leader has attended the gathering, which has become a stable fixture on the sidelines of EU summits of the bloc's leaders over the past year. 'We're delighted that Germany is on board for the first time,' Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ahead of the meeting he described as a 'pressure group' pushing to make the European Union's migration policy 'much stricter'. Co-organised by Italy, Denmark and The Netherlands, the migration talks were attended by more than a dozen of the bloc's 27 leaders as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. Crystallising the growing influence of the hard right within the bloc, it has served as a platform for hardliners to push the commission to pass new rules to reduce arrivals and boost deportations. Germany's conservative-led government, which took power in May, has pursued a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. As part of the new strategy, it emerged this week that Berlin plans to suspend funding for non-government groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens party minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for such groups. New Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday defended the decision against criticism from migrant rescue groups, arguing that it was 'the right thing to do'. Germany remains 'committed to humanity and will always work to help people wherever they are suffering', Wadephul said in Berlin. 'But I do not believe it is the task of the foreign ministry to fund this form of sea rescue at this time.' Instead, he said Germany should focus on 'using diplomatic means to ensure that such waves of migration can be reduced'.
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Flights cancelled in Brussels amid strike over proposed pension reform
Transport services were severely disrupted in Belgium as general strikes took place nationwide over the proposed federal reforms and cuts to pensions. Departure flights in Brussels Airport, also known as Zaventem, were cancelled as security and airport personnel participated in the strikes. The country's main airport only received 103 incoming flights. 261 flights were originally set to land at the airport. Further south of the city, Charleroi, a major European hub for low cost airlines like Ryanair, preventively cancelled all its flights on Wednesday, citing a lack of staff. All flights were grounded for the day. 'Passengers scheduled to fly via Charleroi on 25 June will be contacted by their airline for a rebooking or refund. We regret the impact of this national strike on our passengers' travel plans and apologise for any inconvenience caused,' said Charleroi Airport in a statement on their website. 'I have to wake up at six. I have to come here. I have to wait. I don't know what is going on. It's the first time for me, that kind of situation. And I'm a little bit shocked, to be honest,' said a traveller. The coming days are expected to be extremely busy in Brussels' two airports as airlines scrambled to rebook passengers affected by the strikes on the next flights. Zaventem airport expects to process around 90,000 passengers per day for the coming few days. 'Tomorrow will be a lot busier than initially anticipated 12,000 extra passengers and also Friday we have 2,000 more passengers than initially anticipated. So it will be busy days at the airport, also with the holiday exodus so is especially important to get to the airport on time,' said Ihsane Chioua Lekhli, spokesperson for Brussels Airport. This is the fifth major strike to take place this year to oppose what protesters called unacceptable proposed reforms to the pension bill. The federal government had planned to scrap a special pension scheme and unify retirement age for all civil servants – to 66 – to make it in line with that of the private sector. The proposal has enraged many workers and trade unions, who concurrently organised several major protests around the country. 'I feel very bad that half-way through our career they are going to reform our pension and that we are going to have less pension. And that we're probably going to buy tanks and other things to wage war with that money instead,' said a protester with the Christian union. Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever was appointed prime minister in early February after months of coalition talks following Belgium's federal elections in June of last year. The government says pension reforms are needed as the rising life expectancy is causing costs to soar in a country already grappling with a large federal budget deficit which is in violation of European Union rules. Brussels, a NATO member, has also pledged to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, in line with the new NATO targets adopted on Wednesday in the summit in The Hague.
Globe and Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
U.S. air strikes on Iran did not break international law, NATO's Rutte says
Pre-emptive U.S. airstrikes on Iran are not a violation of international law, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said as he prepares to welcome Donald Trump to a summit of member countries that was choreographed to keep the United States in the military alliance. Mr. Rutte, NATO's top civilian official, was speaking ahead of the Tuesday opening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit where all 32 member states agreed to hike core defence spending to 3.5 per cent of their annual economic output after the U.S. president asked for this. Mr. Trump in March said he won't defend allies that are not paying enough for their defence. Israel targets Iran's government and key Tehran prison as Iran launches more attacks on Israel Mr. Rutte defended the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites after being asked two times about whether they breach international law as Russia did by attacking Ukraine in 2022. 'My biggest fear would be for Iran to own and be able to use and deploy a nuclear weapon to be a stranglehold on Israel, on the whole region and other parts of the world,' the secretary-general said. 'This is a consistent position of NATO: Iran should not have its hands on a nuclear on a nuclear weapon,' he said. 'I would not agree that this is against international law — what the U.S. did." Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who met with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Brussels Monday, told reporters he is of two minds on the U.S. airstrikes. 'In a rules-based world, you just don't start bombing other people,' he said. 'Having said that, Iran is an evil regime,' Mr. De Wever said. He and Mr. Carney on Monday laid wreaths at Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery in Belgium where Canadian soldiers who fought in the Second World War are buried. 'Iran is the big sponsor of terrorism,' Mr. De Wever said. 'Without Iran, there wouldn't have been a Hamas. Without a Hamas, not a 7th of October. Without the 7th of October, not a war in Gaza,' he said. 'Without Iran, there wouldn't be a Hezbollah. There wouldn't be Houthis. So it's a hard regime to feel sorry for.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Carney talks de-escalation with Trump, as Belgian's PM offers no sympathy for Iran
There was little sympathy for Iran and reluctant backing for regime change among some European leaders, following the weekend airstrikes by the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities. On Monday, newly minted conservative Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever described Iran as an "evil regime" and a sponsor terrorism throughout the Middle East and Europe. He spoke to Canadian journalists following a Second World War commemoration event at the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, where he and Prime Minister Mark Carney laid wreaths to remember the fallen. Carney, in a social media post early Monday, said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump overnight about "de-escalating the conflict in the Middle East." The two leaders talked about the weekend's events and also the upcoming NATO Summit. De Wever, however, took a harder line and spoke about a foiled Iranian-sponsored terrorism plot, where the suspect was headed to Paris, but arrested on Belgian soil — something that prompted retaliation from the regime in Tehran. "Iran is the big sponsor of terrorism," De Wever said. "Without Iran, there would have been no Hamas. Without a Hamas, not a 7th of October. Without the 7th of October, [not] another war in Gaza," he said. "Without Iran, there wouldn't be Hezbollah, there wouldn't be Houthis. So it's a hard regime to feel sorry for." Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, suggested he might welcome the toppling of the Iranian government, but insisted the weekend attacks — which saw the three Iranian nuclear sites hit with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs — were not intended to bring about "regime change." For his part, De Wever said, as a believer in the rule of law, it's unfortunate that the situation has come to a point where military action was required to stop Iran's nuclear program. "It would be best if there would be a regime change in Iran, but … you would prefer that it would be a democratic process or another process" that doesn't start with bombing, De Wever said. One defence expert said that kind of reaction shouldn't be surprising, because of the long history of tension with the hard-line regime in Iran. "I think you might have European leaders publicly calling for restraint, but privately, very at ease that an extremist-led regime that was within striking distance of Europe wasn't able to develop up to 10 nuclear weapons that they could mate with ballistic missiles and hold Europe hostage," said Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies in remarks made ahead of the U.S. strikes. WATCH | The National breaks down the U.S. attacks on Iran: Jensen cautioned, however, there might be a limit to the support of Trump's actions. "If those attacks, though, spread to targeting leaders and a wider rollback of Iranian military capability, it creates the risk of second- and third-order effects that would really cause concern in Europe," he said. Indeed, while Russia's reaction to its ally and important weapons supplier being bombed has been limited to rhetoric, the Kremlin drew a line at the notion of regime change in Tehran. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the notion of toppling the Iranian government as "unimaginable" and "unacceptable." Although Russia and Iran have a strategic partnership, there's no direct military support requirement built into the agreement.
