BRUSSELS: Belgium’s premier said the country would likely not arrest Benjamin Netanyahu despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister over the Gaza offensive.
Following a trip by Netanyahu to Hungary on Thursday in defiance of the warrant, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever poured cold water on any expectations that other European nations would act differently.
“I don’t think there is a European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on their territory. France, for example, wouldn’t do it. I don’t think we would either,” the Flemish conservative leader said.
His comments in an interview Thursday with Flemish public broadcaster VRT referred to Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary, which rolled out the red carpet for Netanyahu despite his arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Hungary, under its nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on the same day initiated the procedure to withdraw from the ICC.
But De Wever indicated that Belgium would not go so far as to pull out of the ICC, stressing his commitment to multilateralism and an international rules-based order.
Quizzed about the possibility of a plane carrying Netanyahu making an emergency landing in Belgium, De Wever first deemed it “highly unlikely,” and then said he doubted an arrest would be made in such a scenario.
One of Belgium’s opposition leaders hit out at the premier’s remarks.
“When an international arrest warrant is issued, when international justice speaks, Belgium must respond. Unambiguously,” said Paul Magnette, president of the French-speaking Belgian Socialist Party, arguing there was a “legal and moral obligation.”
Belgian human rights group CNCD 11.11.11 slammed De Wever’s comments as “unacceptable” and accused him of “undermining” international law.
Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM
https://arab.news/gt6g4
Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM
- “I don’t think there is a European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on their territory,” the Flemish conservative leader said
- “France, for example, wouldn’t do it. I don’t think we would either”
Philippines eyes closer cooperation on advanced defense tech with UAE
- Philippine-UAE defense agreement is Manila’s first with a Gulf country
- Philippines says new deal will also help modernize the Philippine military
MANILA: The Philippines is seeking stronger cooperation with the UAE on advanced defense technologies under their new defense pact — its first such deal with a Gulf country — the Department of National Defense said on Friday.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week, which also saw the Philippines and the UAE signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, marking Manila’s first free trade pact with a Middle Eastern nation.
The Philippines-UAE defense agreement “seeks to deepen cooperation on advanced defense technologies and strengthen the security relations” between the two countries, DND spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
The MoU “will serve as a platform for collaboration on unmanned aerial systems, electronic warfare, and naval systems, in line with the ongoing capability development and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he added.
It is also expected to further military relations through education and training, intelligence and security sharing, and cooperation in the fields of anti-terrorism, maritime security, and peacekeeping operations.
The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described security and defense as “very promising fields” in Philippine-UAE ties, pointing to Abu Dhabi being the location of Manila’s first defense attache office in the Middle East.
The UAE is the latest in a growing list of countries with defense and security deals with the Philippines, which also signed a new defense pact with Japan this week.
“I would argue that this is more significant than it looks on first read, precisely because it’s the Philippines’ first formal defense cooperation agreement with a Gulf state. It signals diversification,” Rikard Jalkebro, associate professor at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told Arab News.
“Manila is widening its security partnerships beyond its traditional circles at a time when strategic pressure is rising in the South China Sea, and the global security environment is (volatile) across regions.”
Though the MoU is not an alliance and does not create mutual defense obligations, it provides a “framework for the practical stuff that matters,” including access, training pathways, procurement discussions and structured channels” for security cooperation, he added.
“For the UAE, the timing also makes sense, seeing that Abu Dhabi is no longer only a defense buyer; it’s increasingly a producer and exporter, particularly in areas like UAS (unmanned aerial systems) and enabling technologies. That opens a new lane for Manila to explore capability-building, technology transfer, and industry-to-industry links,” Jalkebro said.
The defense deal also matters geopolitically, as events in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region have ripple effects on global stability and commerce.
“So, a Philippines–UAE defense framework can be read as a pragmatic hedge, strengthening resilience and options without formally taking sides,” Jalkebro said.
