LOC13:29
10:29 GMT
BRUSSELS, Dec 19 (KUNA) -- Belgium will shut down its embassies in Kabul, Tripoli and in several other European and African capitals due to budgetary restraint.
"Structural reforms are needed to enable the Foreign Ministry to continue carrying out its tasks in a context of budgetary restraint. This decision must be seen in the context of a broader effort of rationalisation of the diplomatic network, based on objective studies," Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders said in a statement Friday.
In Europe, embassies will be closed in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Bratislava, Ljubljana and Nicosia. Consulates General will be closed in Cologne, Lille, Strasbourg and Geneva.
In Africa, the Embassies in Tripoli and Brazzaville, as well as the Consulates General in Casablanca and Johannesburg, are affected by this decision, it said.
On the American continent, the Consulate in Toronto will be closed at the end of December; cooperation offices in Quito and La Paz will follow in the course of 2015. The Embassy in Kabul will end its activities in the course of January 2015.
Belgianآ’s embassy in Tunis will be responsible for Tripoli and in Pakistan for Afghanistan
"With a network of over 100 career posts around the world and on every continent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promotes the interests and values of Belgium among its partners and in international organisations.
The Ministry is also serving on a daily basis the 500,000 Belgians established abroad, as well as numerous compatriots travelling internationally.
This rationalisation is carried out with the intention of preserving the effectiveness of the network of the Belgian diplomatic missions, added the statement. (end)
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