Foreign minister summons US ambassador amid diplomatic row

24 February 2026

Foreign minister Maxime Prévot met US ambassador Bill White on Tuesday morning, in the midst of a diplomatic row.

Last week, White criticised a judicial investigation into circumcisions in the Jewish community in Antwerp, accused Belgium of antisemitism, and lashed out at Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke and Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau.

Rousseau has been banned from entering the US, according to White, after he compared Donald Trump to Hitler in a post on social media.

White was spoken to by the Foreign ministry last week. But because Prévot was abroad at the time, his meeting was with Theodora Gentzis, the country’s top diplomat. There has reportedly been contact between the minister and White since then, but this is the first time they have spoken face to face since last week’s incident.

Prévot, of Les Engagés, will respond to questions from MPs about the ambassador’s actions in the Chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, has had direct access to the French government revoked after he ignored a summons from the Foreign ministry.

Kushner had been summoned by Foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot to explain US comments about the killing of a far-right activist in Lyon. 23-year-old Quentin Deranque was beaten to death by far-left supporters during clashes in Lyon on 12 February. A US state department spokesperson described it as “terrorism”.

Belgium rebukes US ambassador over ‘interference’ in circumcision investigation

Belgium’s Foreign ministry has formally reminded the US ambassador, Bill White, of the “role and limits” of a diplomat after he publicly...

belganewsagency.eu

The ambassador did not attend the summons. French media report that he cited personal commitments as his reason and sent a senior official from the embassy in his place.

“In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission, the minister has requested that he no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,” the ministry said in a statement.

^{Bill White leaves the offices of the Foreign ministry in Brussels, 17 February 2026 © BELGA PHOTO MARIUS BURGELMAN / White arrives for a meeting with Foreign minister Maxime Prévot, 24 February 2026 © BELGA VIDEO FRISIEN VERVAEKE}

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