‘Thanks to your call to the Emir, we were able to organise the repatriation flights directly from Dubai.’ King Filip didn’t quite know where to look when Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Francophone centrist Les Engagés) explicitly thanked the Belgian head of state for his help in bringing stranded Belgians home from the Middle East after Israel and the US unleashed war on Iran.
How Filip, King of Belgians, helped behind the scenes to bring Belgians home from the Middle East
Colin Clapson
Published:
During a visit last week to the volunteers at the national crisis centre – the logistical hub of the repatriation operation – Minister Prévot had only words of praise for the King of Belgians's personal intervention.
“Fewer of our compatriots had to make the long bus journey to Oman during their repatriation. Many thanks, Your Majesty.”
The king seemed somewhat uncomfortable with so much praise. Typical, says VRT News royalty editor Sandra Cardoen. The King values discretion.
But thanks to Prévot, it was suddenly out in the open: with a few royal phone calls within his network, Filip had set things in motion. Although the king’s role is strictly defined in political terms, he can certainly carry weight through soft diplomacy – soft power.
King Filip called six countries: Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain. He did so on his own initiative and at the request of the Belgian foreign ministry. The king wanted to emphasise his solidarity with the Gulf region.
In such a conversation you can always casually ask for a favour. It’s a small world. And King Filip certainly knows quite a few people in the Middle East.
The ties with Jordan are obvious, with fellow monarchs King Abdullah and Queen Rania.
Those with, say, Qatar are less obvious, but the current Belgian ambassador in Doha, Eugène Crijns, served as King Filip’s political and diplomatic adviser for seven years. World politics is a chessboard on which you strategically deploy and move pawns.
A network built over the decades
That vast network is being carefully built up. As Crown Prince, Filip led 85 trade missions over a period of two decades, including ones to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Under his leadership, the aim was to make four overseas visits a year. By way of comparison: under Princess Astrid, his sister, and soon Crown Princess Elisabeth, his eldest daughter, the average is around two a year.
A trade mission is a demanding undertaking. Shaking hundreds of hands at receptions, making dozens of visits in the space of a few days. The results may take time to materialise, but it opens doors – with foreign companies and with dignitaries alike.
A constitutional monarch
Is it really that simple to open your contact list on your smartphone at crucial moments? No.
The King cannot simply act on his own initiative. He must be ‘backed’ by (or have the support of) the government. This can be arranged, for example, during the Monday audiences with the Prime Minister, during which the week’s agenda is reviewed.
The foreign ministry then does the groundwork (gauging the mood, arranging meetings) and the King subsequently has the conversation.
This is not the first time that Filip has acted as a mediator or allowed himself to be played as a trump card and, fortunately for the people of Belgium, it will certainly not be the last.