Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel take a break from the EU’s first face-to-face summit since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and eat potato chips outside of the Maison Antoine friterie in Brussels, Belgium, on July 18. , 2020 in this image obtained from social networks. Cabinet of Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes through REUTERS
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As European leaders haggled in Brussels on Saturday for billions of euros to shore up their coronavirus-ruined economies, four prime ministers fled in search of comfort food – a paper cone of Belgian potato chips.
The snack that Americans call “potato chips” – and the British call “potato chips” – is a staple in Belgium that shacks and trailers selling “potato chips” were left open during the close of this spring to curb the COVID-19 spread.
Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes tweeted a photo of herself and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel outside the famous Maison Antoine “friterie” grabbing her loot; she had “Andalouse” sauce with her fries and Bettel chose “Samurai”.
They were joined by the prime ministers of Estonia and Malta, and the four sat together outside the restaurant on Place Jourdan, which also served as German Chancellor Angela Merkel during breaks at previous European Union summits.
Belgium has sought to have “Belgian fries” and the culture that surrounds them is recognized as a distinctive part of the world heritage, along with its brewing tradition.
Many Belgians say their country invented potato chips, and that the name was left only because US troops stationed in the French-speaking part of Belgium during World War I mistakenly called them “French.”
Written by John Chalmers; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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