Along with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Belgium’s De Croo — who faces elections in June — is among Europe’s most outspoken supporters of the Palestinian cause, a credential he repeatedly touted on the first day of his Mideast trip. “Belgium has a very clear position. We are part of a core of countries, with Spain and Ireland, that have been calling for a cease-fire,” De Croo said.
After a morning huddle with Kaag, De Croo spent more than an hour chatting with Belgian air force troops at a Jordanian airfield that is a staging ground for airdrops into the Gaza Strip. Standing under the wing of a military transport plane being loaded with aid pallets, he said Belgium’s efforts to champion the Palestinian cause and deliver aid had raised Belgium’s standing in the Arab world — even if relations between Israel and Belgium have rarely been frostier.
With Belgium holding the rotating presidency of the European Union, De Croo is expected to press EU leaders to focus on the situation in Gaza during a gathering in Brussels next week.
Asked how such advocacy chimed with the EU presidency’s requirement to act as an “honest broker” in EU negotiations, De Croo seemed unfazed. “Belgium has a position,” he said. “I will do everything I can to convince other countries to join me.”
The next stop for De Croo is Doha, Qatar, where he is set to raise the possibility of renewing a contract for the delivery of Qatari gas. On Sunday, the Belgian leader flies to Cairo, Egypt, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will sign an economic support package largely geared at curbing irregular migration.
