r/belgium • u/No_Substance_99 • 21h ago
📰 News Belgian ambassador in Moscow summoned over “anti-Russian remarks”
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2026/10/14/belgian-ambassador-in-moscow-summoned-over-anti-russian-remarks/The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Belgian ambassador to Moscow, Michel Gerebtzoff (pictured left), over “anti-Russian statements” made by the Belgian authorities, the Russian state news agency TASS has reported, citing the ministry.
43
36
u/JonPX 21h ago
Always a badge of honor. But I don't remember any particular statement the last week?
17
u/MCwortel 21h ago
I think they mistaken us for the Dutch
13
u/flying_fox86 19h ago
Next headline:
"Russian ambassador in Brussels summoned over mistaking us for Dutch"
2
6
u/SignAllStrength Belgium 16h ago
Those statements by Belgian military and political leaders were “regarding growing hybrid threats, sabotage and direct military threats allegedly originating from Russia.”
So if they mean to explain to our ambassador they are not responsible: maybe the Kremlin can then help stop those threats and get the people responsible arrested, convicted and jailed?
Would be nice to get consequences to those people , like for example the ones this week that hacked supermarkets fridges all over Europe to heat them(defrosting coil on overdrive), spoil the food and even set some on fire like the ancient Marché des Enfents-Rouge market in Paris..
2
2
5
u/Tman11S Kempen 17h ago
Why do we even pay a man to be ambassador in that shit hole of a country
7
u/Speartree 16h ago
So the people in that country who need a contact with the Belgian government have someone to go to. I would not like to be stuck in Putin's Russia for work though. Poor guy I hope the windows of the embassy have bars over them.
4
u/Tman11S Kempen 13h ago
Call me too simplistic, but I’d just say “tough luck” to anyone who goes to a hostile country and needs help. If someone willingly walks into a war zone, do we then need to send a rescue team to get them back?
-2
u/Speartree 11h ago
What if you are stranded there because you missed your connecting flight and Russia is being difficult because you don't have a visum or something, that is when you need the embassy.
1
u/BelgianPolitics 12h ago edited 12h ago
An embassy is a safe haven for Belgians or EU citizens who are in trouble. It is also important to have diplomatic representation together with all other EU ambassadors. Unless you want the French ambassador discussing Euroclear assets with the Russians in Moscow without a Belgian diplomat present for example. It also gives us eyes and ears on the ground. The embassy has a decently sized staff. They also follow up on (local) Russian media. They hold contacts with opposition and civil society. They check whether sanctions evasion is occurring. They observe what Russians are saying about Belgium. And for Belgium less relevant because we usually have no spies operating outside of Belgium: it is used as a spy hub. It is a secure building. We should be grateful that a bunch of moderately paid civil servants are still motivated to work in the embassy to improve our information position knowing Putin could do something crazy at any time.
0
u/egnappah37 6h ago
why do we have an ambassador in moscow? That sounds like the most useless job ever.
•
u/AutoModerator 21h ago
You have selected the [News] flair for your post. For your post to be valid, please keep in mind rule 3) the title of your post must match the title of the article that you link. Editing the title for your own opinion is not allowed.
Your post must contain a direct link to the news article, a screenshot is not allowed.
Articles that do not cover facts, but are opinions by the author, should be flaired as [Opinion] and not [News]
If your post does not match these rules, it will be removed by moderators.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.