South Korean President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Belgium for high-level summits with Belgian and EU leaders to discuss trade, supply chains, and Middle East issues. Meanwhile, the U.S. has reportedly requested Belgium restrict entry to certain African nationals due to Ebola outbreak concerns.
Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy in Northwestern Europe whose capital, Brussels, hosts the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, giving the country outsized diplomatic weight relative to its size. Governance is shaped by a deep linguistic divide between Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia, and a small German-speaking community, producing complex coalition politics and recurring tensions over regional autonomy. The head of government, Bart De Wever, leads a party rooted in the Flemish nationalist movement, underscoring the enduring fault line between Flemish self-determination ambitions and Belgian unity. As a founding EU member and committed Atlanticist, Belgium anchors its foreign policy in European integration and multilateral cooperation.