UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had a meeting with Belgian PM Elio Di Rupo and Defence Minister Pieter De Crem in Brussels on Sunday. They talked about the Belgian troops abroad and international issues like Syria. "The arrival of UN monitoring troops will be a good test for Syria president Assad", Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said.

Ban Ki-moon is in Brussels for an international summit on sustainable energy, but most attention goes to the situation in Syria and what Ban has to say about that. Ban told reporters that he hopes that "once the monitoring team is on the ground, I hope there will be a calm and stability and peace without any violence. At the same time, we expect that, as a next step, the political dialogue should continue for a political resolution of this issue, respecting and reflecting the aspirations and wishes of Syrian people. That should be Syrian-led."

However, Ban also found the time for a private meeting with members of the Belgian government. After being received by PM Elio Di Rupo (Francophone socialist), he discussed the presence of Belgian troops in countries like Congo and Lebanon with Mr Di Rupo and Defence Minister Pieter De Crem (Flemish christian democrat).
Last night, Ban Ki-moon had dinner with Belgian Crown Prince Filip and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders (Francophone liberal) among others. After the meeting, Mr Reynders said that "the arrival of UN monitoring troops in Syria is a test for president Bachar al-Assad. It will reveal to which extent he is prepared to comply with the international peace plan."