Belgium Grants Visas for Iranian Delegation to Brussels Urban Summit 2023 Despite Controversy

2023-06-15 18:02:58

Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) confirmed Thursday in the plenary session of the Chamber the granting of visas “with limited territoriality” to an Iranian delegation of 14 people, including the mayor of Tehran, to participate in the Brussels Urban Summit 2023, organized in the capital.

These visas have been granted”for the event and only for the event“, specified the Minister. And these were after several security checks: the people who obtained the visas were not subject to a travel ban and the Ocam (Coordinating body for the analysis of the threat) judged the threat “very weak“.

During a lively debate, the head of Belgian diplomacy strongly pointed out the insistence of the Secretary of State in charge of International Relations Pascal Smet (Vooruit), to invite these people despite the negative opinion formulated by Belgian Foreign Affairs . She mentioned various letters to this effect, including one sent to the Belgian ambassador in Iran asking to “don’t block invites“. “M.Smet conducts its international policy with and without us“, she lambasted, adding that some of the guests at the summit, two Russians, had obtained visas from other member states of the Schengen area.

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