On 15 June, His Majesty King Philippe of the Belgians will hold a meeting with the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
The Belgian monarchy announced that King Philippe will host the US President at the Brussels Royal Palace, the official workplace of Belgian sovereigns. The Prime Minister, newly appointed Alexander De Croo, will also attend the meeting.
The meeting will be held in the context of a series of international summits in the UK and Brussels. The G7 summit will be held in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, United Kingdom, from the 11th to the 13th of June and will fall under the Presidency of the United Kingdom. The summit will also host an EU delegation. And then Brussels will host a NATO summit on the 14th of June and a European-American summit on the 15th, at the end of which the meeting with His Majesty will occur.
President Biden is also scheduled to meet Queen Elizabeth in Windsor Castle, on 13 June, along with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden.
This visit comes at a crucial time in American politics; President Biden seems to have orientated his foreign policy more towards diplomacy after former President Trump made some negative comments about NATO, the G7 and the European Union. President Biden has reportedly instructed his diplomatic network, headed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to do their best to mend relationships with crucial institutions such as the European Union and NATO. His meetings with the British and the Belgian sovereigns undoubtedly fall under his attempts to smooth relationships crucial to the global economy, safety, and the international cooperation required to manage the global health emergency the world is currently experiencing.
