Belgium could in turn withdraw from the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration approved in September at the United Nations. Although Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has suggested that nothing has yet been decided, the veto on Tuesday 13 November on the signature of the Compact by Secretary of State for Migration Theo Francken is an additional stone in the EU's shoe, preventing it from adopting a joint decision for the signature to take place on 10 December in Marrakech. Austria and Hungary have officially announced that they will not sign. The Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Bulgaria do not support this Compact (see EUROPE 12137). The United Kingdom and Denmark have a reservation. Australia and the United States are the third countries that have turned their backs on this global, non-binding pact, which is supposed to provide a global response to a global challenge. (AN)