“We can get through (crises) as a society, but whoever says that the authorities can compensate 100% is talking nonsense. It will take effort from everyone,” summed up Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Tuesday during his traditional visit to UGent (Ghent University) for an inaugural conference on political science.
Referring more broadly to democracy (“Call for a strong leader is the biggest mistake we can make. We must have only one priority, a strong society”), then the successive crises facing the country, the liberal considered that we look too often at what is wrong. “For a country where nothing is possible and where politicians can no longer make any decisions, we nevertheless have one of the most innovative economies in the world with one of the best social security systems”.
Alexander De Croo referred to the “September declaration” of the Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon (N-VA), delayed for several days due to the rififi in the majority on family allowances. “We tend to magnify things that are quite normal. In a democracy, things stir from time to time”.
This did not mean that the time was for blind optimism. The security situation in Europe is worrying, with the energy crisis closely linked to it. Representatives of the young people of the PTB, Comac, had also come to remind them at the entrance to the university building, displaying a banner announcing that the students “will not pay for the crisis”. In the room, a student asked a question regarding the increase in the price of energy and… spaghetti in the university restaurant. To which the Prime Minister replied by explaining the measures taken and by evoking the future taxation of “surplus profits”, while warning: the State will not be able to compensate 100% for the increase in bills.