2023-05-14 16:12:00
N-VA chairman Bart De Wever painted a very bleak picture of the country’s financial situation on Sunday. Without a confederal turn, he fears that Flanders will be swept away.
According to figures from the N-VA, some 2,500 activists gathered in Antwerp to hear the closing speech of the “members’ congress” organized for three days by the Flemish nationalists. The previous edition dated back to 2014. At that time, confederalism had been anchored in the “Hard disk” of the party. Today, the N-VA is setting up the “software” which will allow a sovereign Flanders to exploit its full potential, according to its president.
Listening to Mr. De Wever, it is time to leave Flanders and Wallonia the choice to follow their own path. “For I stand before you today with deep concern (“brennender Sorge”, reference to the 1937 encyclical in which the pope condemned Nazism, editor’s note). International reports on the situation in this country are increasingly gloomy. The IMF, the OECD, the European Commission, the National Bank, the Federal Planning Bureau… All are sounding the alarm regarding Belgium“.
Conversely, the nationalist leader hailed the achievements of the Flemish government (led by N-VA Jan Jambon). But he fears that the current federal structure will drag Flanders down with it. “What a humiliation it would be for a summit region like Flanders if the IMF had to disembark from a plane in Zaventem“, launched the party president.
Vlaams Belang, the far right, ahead in the polls: the reaction of De Wever
The N-VA is the only formation that can save Flanders, according to him, even if the polls are not up to its ambitions. “It becomes mountain biking“, he conceded.
While many people are angry, it is up to the N-VA to channel that resentment and turn it into a constructive force. “Because an emotional vote will not save Flanders, it will only play into the hands of the PS and a Vivaldi 2“.
Implementing confederalism would involve long negotiations. To avoid an endless period of current affairs, the president of the N-VA pleaded in the press in favor of a mini-government with the PS to manage the country. A “madness“, according to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld). In the eyes of Mr. De Wever, the continuation of the current policy would be akin to “chaos“, he explained on the sidelines of his speech. The PS, for its part, declined the invitation, stressing that entering a government without knowing what we are going to do there, it made no sense. .
Vlaams Belang (VB) is not welcome in a coalition, repeated Mr De Wever. The Flemish far right does not want to do anything at the federal level when it is at this level that the reforms will be decided. “Tom Van Grieken wants to start the revolution from Flanders and then go and negotiate. Haven’t they learned the lessons of what happened in Catalonia?“, he pointed out. As for the entry of the VB into the coalition, it does not agree with the N-VA either. “Flanders is perfectly governable. Why would I go with an extremist party? I feel closer to the center parties“, he swept, scratching the socio-economic program of Vlaams Belang.
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