2023-06-26 15:52:51
“I apologize for my lack of clarity.” These are the words spoken Monday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, before the Foreign Relations Committee of the House about the arrival of an Iranian delegation in Brussels led by the mayor of Tehran. of videos
The Minister explained for the third time on this event which led to the resignation of the Brussels Secretary of State Pascal Smet and plunged Vivaldi into crisis. The tone has changed since June 21, the date of the previous committee meeting. Regrets dotted Ms. Lahbib’s speech, mostly about the way she communicated. She acknowledged that certain explanations may have created confusion, in particular concerning an opinion from OCAM on the level of threat linked to the visit of the mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, to the “Urban Summit”, in mid-June. She returned to her first response to the House on June 15 during the current affairs session. The representative MR had then judged Mr. Smet very severely and gave the impression to many observers that she, and behind her the president of her party, had sought to make a political coup. “I never thought in terms of political calculation but in terms of interest in our diplomacy,” she said.
The acts of espionage, even intimidation, committed by certain members of this delegation against Iranian opponents in Brussels marked it in particular. “I regret that some people may have felt intimidated or endangered by the presence of the Iranian delegation. Political decisions must take into account the reality on the ground. I apologize if I did not take this into account enough in my statements”.
The Minister traced the timeline of the events that led to the arrival of this delegation, from March 20, when her administration deemed such a visit inopportune, until the departure of the last of its members from Brussels on June 16. She recalled the context of the time, namely the negotiations to obtain the release of Olivier Vandecasteele and three other European prisoners in Iran. She also insisted on the opinions issued by State Security, which concluded at the beginning of June that there were no objections, and specified in passing that the cabinet of the Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, which is responsible on the intelligence service, had been informed. And like Prime Minister Alexander De Croo last week, she recognized that “there was a way to do better”.
For the N-VA opposition, apologies that are limited to communication on this file are insufficient. MP Darya Safai repeated her demand for the resignation of the minister.
In the majority, the questions also remain. The tone is not absolution. “Facts are facts. The big gap between June 15 and June 21 is flagrant and does not contribute to the spirit of trust that must exist between the government and parliament”, launched the deputy Samuel Cogolati (Ecolo-Groen) for whom the minister is entirely responsible for granting visas to this delegation “despite the orange lights”.
The PS was not more lenient. “On June 15, you lied to parliament,” accused Malik Ben Achour. “This problem of lying in front of parliament is irremediably registered in your liabilities (…) This commission is not a confessional, I do not have the soul of a priest. I’m not interested in apologies,” he added. “Do you recognize your political responsibility in granting these visas? Do you still have sufficient credibility to lead Belgian diplomacy? »
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