2023-06-19 19:11:00
”In the case that concerns us, he said, there was a political request from the cabinet of Pascal Smet (Brussels Secretary of State) with a view to obtaining a visa under very specific conditions, since it was to host a delegation. It was an invitation to participate in a meeting with 35 other delegations. If we put aside the sulphurous political aspects relating to Iran (the hostage file, etc.), we can understand that the minister wished to have a delegation from Tehran, an important city, at the summit organized last week .”
The first step taken in March with the regional directorate of the FPS foreign affairs was unsuccessful. There followed the phone call of May 10 exchanged by Pascal Smet and Hadja Lahbib, to override the first negative opinion and still grant the visa. “There’s nothing illegal regarding it. It is part of the minister’s prerogatives to grant a visa, even if negative opinions have been given”, emphasizes Michel Liégeois.
The procedure would therefore have been respected.
The ULg constitutionalist, Christian Behrendt, also underlined on RTBF, “the competence to issue visas is not a shared competence, it is a competence of the federal authority.”
”Difficult, in a totally arbitrary way, to refuse the visa”
Hadja Lahbib had no other choice than to validate the visa, as assured by her cabinet? “It all depends on the status of the case. If it is irreproachable, with only positive opinions, it seems difficult for the minister, in a totally arbitrary way, to refuse the visa. Otherwise we would not be in a state of law, adds the professor of international relations. On the other hand, when the file is not clear, with elements which might possibly lead to a refusal, but without this being obvious, there is a work of interpretation. The question is not whether the minister can refuse a visa or not. It’s not his job in general. Except when we find ourselves in an exceptional case and this is the case here. Denying a visa to an Iranian dignitary is a political issue.”
”No, the minister has not deviated from her line”: undermined by internal emails, Hadja Lahbib defends herself but the pressure for a resignation is increasing
The possible refusal, in this case, then depends on the Immigration Office. “If a refusal is issued, it is indeed because the Immigration Office intervenes, on a file that has been sent to it. It is true that in general, 80% of files do not go through the OE. But it’s different in the case of Tehran: in this case, the vast majority of files also go through the OE.”
Michel Liégeois also points to the choice of the FPS Foreign Affairs to grant a visa with limited territoriality to Iranians, which therefore only authorizes restricted access to Belgian territory. “It’s to show that we only grant what is strictly necessary to reach the top, and nothing else.”
“Influenced by context”
Michel Liégeois also says he is challenged by “a coincidence of dates”. Hadja Lahbib indeed told Pascal Smet on May 10 that she would not block visas. “The moment when the minister decides on the visa is the moment when the release of Olivier Vandecasteele is resolved. We do not know what was in the basket of negotiations with Iran. It must remain secret. But I can’t imagine that it wasn’t influenced by the context. Perhaps the minister did not want to clash head-on with an Iranian delegation at that time. I’m just hypothesizing. But at the very least, whether it was discussed or not, this request from an Iranian delegation must be interpreted in the light of what was happening in the negotiations.”
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