Flanders demands that the Netherlands keeps its promise to deepen the Westerscheldt river estuary.

The Netherlands' southern neighbour, part of Belgium, on Thursday summoned the Dutch ambassador. Flemish Prime Minister Kris Peeters told ambassador Hannie Pollmann-Zaal that Brussels wants the terms of a 2005 treaty respected. In it, Flanders and the Netherlands both committed themselves to improving the shipping route to Antwerp.

On 28 July, the Dutch Council of State ordered the dredging of the Westerscheldt to be halted until more was known about the environmental impact. A local environmental group and the society for the protection of birds had lodged a complaint saying that the project was harming the Saeftinghe nature reserve. The Council of State accepted the complaint and told the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature it had prematurely given the go-ahead for the dredging.

Antwerp authorities say that the port is missing an estimated 70 million euros in takings because big seagoing ships are unable to reach it. Critics in Flanders say the Netherlands is dragging its feet in order to protect the port of Rotterdam, Antwerp's major rival in the region.