Belgian authorities plan to summon the U.S. ambassador for a reprimand this week after an incendiary social media post in which he mocked one of the country’s top officials, marking the second time this year that he has been called to answer for confrontational comments.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot told NOTUS he planned to make the request to U.S. Ambassador Bill White after he mocked Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. The spat came after Vandenbroucke proposed a law strengthening the warnings Belgium puts on alcohol advertisements.
“Who’s the biggest LOSER in Belgium?” White, who was appointed by Trump last year, displayed on Instagram’s story feature, posting what appeared to be an AI-generated picture of the health minister on a cigar box with text that read, “Damages every form of joy in life.”
Belgium has introduced robust new alcohol advertising standards, which require all alcohol advertisements to carry the warning “Alcohol is harmful to health” across a wide range of formats and media. The measures were spearheaded by Vandenbroucke and include a ban on alcohol advertising in media where at least 30% of the audience are minors.
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Prévot said in a statement to NOTUS that the language used by White was “unacceptable” and that he planned to “summon him to my office in the following days.”
The U.S. ambassador was previously summoned by Belgian authorities in February for accusing the country of antisemitism and intervening in the country’s judicial affairs.
At the time, Prévot had called White’s allegations “dangerous misinformation.”
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