A fresh round of negotiations inside Belgium’s “kern” (restricted inner cabinet) ended this weekend without agreement on whether the country will issue study visas to 13 Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip who have full-tuition scholarships at Belgian universities. Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s Flemish nationalist N-VA party and its Francophone liberal partner MR continue to block the compromise drafted by Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot, citing fears that the scholars could later request asylum or family reunification once in Belgium. The other three coalition partners—Vooruit, Les Engagés and CD&V—support granting the visas on humanitarian and academic grounds. The stalemate has left the students stranded in war-ravaged Gaza while the academic year in Belgium is already under way. Rectors of all ten Belgian universities issued an unusual joint statement condemning the “political bargaining” that treats the scholars as “adjustment variables” in migration debates. Universities warn that research projects in engineering, public-health and green-energy funded by EU Horizon grants are now at risk because doctoral candidates have not been able to take up their positions. Legally, Belgium could issue humanitarian D-visas and coordinate the students’ exit from Gaza through the established Israeli liaison mechanism (COGAT). Several EU member states have already used that channel this year to evacuate students and medical patients. Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA), however, insists the case would create a “domino effect” and undermine her pledge to deliver “the strictest migration policy ever.” The dispute has become intertwined with fraught budget talks; MR has reportedly linked its support for the visas to tougher return measures for failed Afghan asylum seekers. With a 15 October budget deadline looming and public-sector unions staging strikes, observers fear the impasse could damage Belgium’s international reputation for academic openness and jeopardise future Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe partnerships. Multinational companies that sponsor PhD research projects warn that delayed arrivals will hit R&D timelines and relocation schedules for accompanying staff. For global-mobility managers, the episode underlines how fast-moving domestic politics can upend even well-funded scholarship or intra-company transfer programmes. Organisations should build in contingency plans—such as remote enrolment options or temporary placements in third countries—when talent pipelines depend on politically sensitive visa decisions.
Source: The Brussels Times
