King Philippe and Queen Mathilde: Visit to the EU Institutions

Today King Philippe and Queen Mathilde paid a visit to the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the Eurocorps in Strasbourg, France. They were accompanied by the Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

At their arrival, the King and the Queen were received by Anne Brasseur, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. After signing the visitors book, King Philippe held a speech in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe reunited in plenary session.

In his speech the King talked about human rights, saying that “The human rights are and should remain a bulwark against extreme evil” and he also added that “rights and freedoms are rooted in the idea of a decent society.” King Philippe stressed the importance to build and preserve a decent society establishing “the vision of man as a whole”.

In the speech the King also mentioned the recent tragic event in the Mediterranean, talking about migration.

Then the King and the Queen had meetings with Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General Council of Europe and with Dean Spielmann, President of the European Court of Human Rights.

The last event was a visit to the headquarter of Eurocorps, an intergovernmental army corps with Belgian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Luxembourgian, Polish, Spanish and Turkish soldiers. Eurocorps is currently commanded by Belgian Lieutenant General Guy Buchsenschmidt.

Filed under Belgium
Tagged European Union, France, Human Rights, King Philippe of the Belgians, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, Working Visit.