Dutch, Belgian end diplomatic row

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and his Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende agreed on Monday to put an end to a diplomatic row sparked by criticism aimed at Balkenende.

In a joint statement, Both the Dutch and Belgian leaders said they had decided during a telephone conversation to put the matter behind them.

The diplomatic row was sparked after Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht described Balkenende in a newspaper interview as "amix of Harry Potter and goody-goody rigid, old fashioned conservative attitudes; a man in whom I cannot detect any trace of charisma".

De Gucht offered his apologies in a letter to Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, but this was initially considered insufficient. Bot summoned the Belgian ambassador to a meeting on Monday morning,demanding an explanation.

Newspaper cartoonists and comedians have frequently drawn a comparison between the looks of Balkenende and the fictional boy wizard Harry Potter. But it is the first time a senior politician in Europe has dared to make that link.

However, both Balkenende and Verhofstadt said good relations between the two countries deserved priority.

De Gucht made his remarks in an interview over the Dutch 'no' vote against the EU Constitution last week.

The weekend comments from De Gucht sparked the most serious diplomatic row between the Netherlands and Belgium in years.

Source: Xinhua