Diplomat Magazine is pleased to publish the speech delivered by H.E. Mr. Olivier Belle, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Multilateral Organizations in The Hague, on the occasion of the reception celebrating the Anniversary of His Majesty the King of Belgium on Friday, 14 November 2025.
In his address, Ambassador Belle reflects on the lessons of history, the fragile state of today’s world, and the vital role of multilateralism in preventing a return to global turmoil. Drawing on the voices of those who lived through the most difficult moments of the twentieth century, he highlights the responsibility of our generation to uphold diplomacy, international law, and cooperative solutions as the most effective path to peace.
We are honoured to share his thoughtful and timely remarks with our readers.
“Some time ago, I spoke with an elderly lady. She is 96 years old. She was born in September 1929, just a few weeks before the financial crisis that paved the way for global turmoil. She told me that she felt as if she were back in the 1930s. During the ceremony commemorating the First World War armistice on November 11, 2025, a veteran of the Second World War was interviewed on Belgian radio. He is 101 years old. He told the reporter that he had the impression of being back in the 1930s. This elderly lady and this veteran experienced the relentless, creeping rise of violence in all areas that ultimately led to the cataclysm of the Second World War.
After the cataclysm, a new arsenal was build. Not a military one, but an arsenal based on multilateralism. An arsenal inspired by common sense and moral values that had been ignored, discredited, or even erased. An arsenal founded on a set of multiple international treaties and conventions covering humanitarian fields, disarmament, human rights, and international criminal law. An arsenal for peace and development through diplomacy and negotiation.
Like millions of people, the elderly lady and the veteran were unable to promote appeasement and empathy against radicalism. Their calls for solutions through negotiation and diplomacy were not taken into account. The use of force and violence, reaching unimaginable levels, excluded any chance for relevant criticism to even be considered. They had neither legal nor multilateral networks to efficiently oppose the absurd dreams of narcissistic grandeur.
Today, we have a very large legal body as well as a multilateral architecture to avoid a sad repetition of tragic history. But laws and multilateralism are only tools. We have a choice. We can set those tools aside as obsolete. This would surely open the gates to the only and last pertinent argument that would remain: the use of force. Or we can adapt these tools and improve their efficiency and relevance to keep a new global catastrophe at bay, to oppose reason to force, to challenge war with diplomacy, and to make life prevail.
As far as we are concerned, we choose without any doubt the second alternative. And we are convinced that we are certainly not the only ones.”
The Hague, November 14, 2025.
