Frédéric L. Agneessens

President of the Belgian Consular Union (BCU)

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to the website of the Belgian Consular Union (BCU) – "the Belgian Consular Union" – which brings together nearly 200 honorary consuls from north to south of the country representing many states of the world in our Kingdom of Belgium.

The BCU is an association that celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in December 2023 during a beautiful gala evening in the presence of many dignitaries.

It serves all honorary consuls of the various provincial consular corps but also includes among its members career consuls in Belgium and honorary consuls of Belgium abroad who wish to join and are up to date with their contributions.

Our goal is to be a link between communities and to have close and privileged ties with the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, not forgetting our specific personal relationships with our respective embassies and the community and provincial governments.

We are pleased to organise occasional events to help expand your national and international network, your knowledge and your experience, such as our annual general meeting followed by a gala evening with distinguished speakers, the BCU Award, awarded to a person or organisation that has developed an extraordinary image and reputation for our country in the world, conferences on current topics, meetings with leaders from the diplomatic, political and economic worlds, business visits, and soon an annual training day regarding the duties and responsibilities of the honorary consul role.

In addition, we also publish a well-known directory, which is used by many embassies and institutions, not to forget our website: www.belgianconsularunion.be to keep you informed of the various activities we organise. “We cannot help everyone, but everyone can help someone,” said Ronald R. Reagan one day.

If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. All proposals are welcome. Never forget that as honorary consuls, we have been appointed to serve and assist our respective citizens and governments in their tasks. 

The BCU is also a privileged member of FICAC, the World Federation of Honorary Consuls, and EFCAC, the European Federation of Honorary Consuls; an additional reason for you to become a member of the BCU in order to join a global and European network of colleagues who share the same passion as you.

Our national motto “unity is strength” takes on its full meaning here.

Finally, it is an honour for me to have been appointed the third president of the BCU. I will strive with the board members to meet your expectations and needs, and I look forward to welcoming you at one of our upcoming events.

Frédéric L. Agneessens