Belgium's Queen Mathilde postponed her Saudi Arabia trip at the last minute: security outweighed trade

Belgium's Queen Mathilde was supposed to be in Saudi Arabia from 21 to 26 October, as head of the Belgian trade delegation and honorary president of the economic mission. One or two days before departure, the trip was postponed. The reason was spelled out without decoration: security.

According to the Royal Palace's statement, the decision was taken jointly by the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the palace, after a security assessment and in close consultation with the relevant ministers and regional authorities. When three institutions sign off on one decision, it is rarely a sign that this is a trivial matter.

The context is no secret. The region has been in conflict for more than two years, and recent attacks on Saudi territory have already forced several delegations to cancel or change their trips to that part of the world. Trade missions are usually sold as peaceful diplomacy - deals, lunches, handshake photos. But when the security services say "no", not even a royal title helps.

This is not the first royal trip to fall through over security. In 2024 Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were due to make a state visit to Jordan, which was also cancelled for security reasons. In the end Felipe travelled alone, on a longer air route that avoided the conflict zones, and Letizia did not travel.

Mathilde's new agenda, according to the palace, will be defined within the framework of the European Union. What that means in practice - a joint European mission instead of a Belgian one, or simply a longer wait - has not been said. What remains is the question every small country trading with distant markets has to ask itself: what is a deal worth with a region where not even a queen can land safely?