Brussels court rejects lawsuit to declare US Ambassador Bill White persona non grata

Servants dressed in cream-white serve chocolates in the sitting room of Whitlock Hall, the residence of the American ambassador to Belgium, while around the embassy complex in Brussels, policemen dressed in black stand with machine guns and laptops are tested for explosives. NRC.

A Brussels court has rejected a legal request to the United States Ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, persona non grata to have declared 21News. The plaintiff in the case was Moshe Friedman, who, by his own account, came to the ambassador’s attention after he initiated proceedings against illegal Jewish circumcisions in our country. BRUZZ.

Legal procedure regarding diplomatic measures

Moshe Friedman went to court in summary proceedings demanding that our country declare the American ambassador persona non grata, so that he can be expelled from the country at a later date. BRUZZ. The judge ruled that the claim was admissible but unfounded, and that decisions regarding such measures fall within the competence of the executive branch, which has broad discretion in diplomatic matters. 21News. According to the court, the requested measure concerns an application of Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, and granting it would disregard the full decision-making power of the executive branch. BRUZZ.

At the same time, proceedings are underway in the criminal court in which Friedman summoned the ambassador for, among other things, threats, extortion, defamation, and harassment, in which the court will soon issue an interim ruling regarding Bill White’s diplomatic immunity. BRUZZ.

Denunciation and summoning of the ambassador

In Europe, President Donald Trump’s ambassadors caused unrest over the past year through open confrontations and harsh criticism of national policy. NRC. Bill White has already been summoned twice in Belgium, including after he accused the country of antisemitism earlier this year in connection with the judicial investigation in Antwerp. NRC.

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