2023-08-13 06:17:00
CD&V deputy from 2010 to 2013, former rector of KU Leuven, the venerable Flemish university, professor of canon law in Louvain and Strasbourg where he teaches periodically, Rik Torfs is an essential media figure in Flanders and the Netherlands. Neither the microphones nor the cameras frighten him. On the contrary, these media outings amuse him. Also very active on Twitter, the Campinois, born in Tunhout in 1956, is passionate regarding everything that is in tune with the times. He likes to describe and decode the latest societal developments. His expertise covers a fairly wide range of areas. .
Cheeky, Rik Torfs likes to impress and take people on the wrong foot. To achieve his ends, he does not hesitate to break the codes of what is “politically correct.” A few weeks ago, the former rector of Leuven appeared in an advertisement for mussels on Flemish television VTM. “I did it for the art,” retorted the canonist. He loves debate and rarely refuses confrontation. Rik Torfs is thus one of the rare Flemish intellectuals to have dared to critically address the scientific discussions held within the group of experts responsible for guiding the political world in the management of the health crisis. According to him, this crisis would even have been better managed in French-speaking Belgium than in the north of the country where virologist Marc Van Ranst was too often given the floor.
When in 2017 he was not re-elected rector of KU Leuven, he immediately moved on. He started writing columns for a Flemish newspaper, wrote a novel and made a TV movie on the Vatican which will be released in early 2024. While continuing to teach in Leuven but also in universities abroad.
In Walloon Brabant
Well known in Flanders, Rik Torfs nevertheless lives in Wallonia. In Chaumont-Gistoux. “I love Walloon Brabant as much as my native Kempen. I still have ties in Flanders since I am still the owner of the ancestral house in Heist-op-den-Berg”, underlines the former Flemish politician who recognizes that a large part of his social life today takes place still in Flanders. Leaving his house in Walloon Brabant located on a hill, he puts on his walking shoes, descends towards the village before climbing up through small bucolic paths. Through fields, he follows paths haphazardly. He regularly marvels at the “majesty beauty of the place” which he willingly testifies on Twitter. “In Flanders, it’s the crush. We jostle on the highways for bicycles. In Wallonia at least, we have space.”
Proud of his Campine of origin
The former rector of Leuven is fluent in French. In his stronghold of Chaumont-Gistoux, he speaks in French to the farmers and his neighbors. He appreciates their kindness. People say hello. “Here, when you meet someone in the street and they don’t say hello to you, it’s a safe bet that it’s a Flemish, he jokes. I speak French to animals too. They rarely respond. I know the names of all the dogs around. We always end up talking to their master, with whom I have good contacts. It’s very friendly. I feel good here. I like the mentality of people.”
Clearly, Rik Torfs loves the warmth of social contact on this side of the language border. “I obviously know Walloon Brabant, Namur and its surroundings better than Charleroi or Liège, where I rarely go. But, in any case, since I’ve been living in Walloon Brabant, I’ve never had the impression of being considered an intruder or a stranger. On the contrary, I have always been well received here. People are open and warm. It’s true, the Flemings in their countryside are more taciturn, sometimes rustic, than the inhabitants of the big cities who are more extroverted. The people of Antwerp are the archetype of this: they talk even when they have nothing to say.” (Laughs)
And to extend: “If I feel Belgian before being Flemish? I am not a nationalist, neither Belgian nor Flemish. Let’s say rather that I am a nationalist from Campine. I have a somewhat rough and rural mind. No one will blame me for that. It’s just a coincidence that I was born in Heist-op-den-Berg”, assures Rik Torfs.
Belgium, he professes, is a country where one can enrich oneself from one’s mutual differences. Two cultures means for him multiple assets, sometimes unexpected opportunities, underestimated perspectives too.
The aid provided by the Flemish population to the Walloons affected by the 2020 floods is a fine example of solidarity between our communities. Individuals spontaneously brought help and mutual aid was organized on the ground. These volunteers, who came from all the Flemish provinces, were active in the field long following the bad weather. “The majority of Flemings like to go to Wallonia and the Walloons to Flanders. Politicians who want us to believe otherwise have it all wrong. It’s in the Flemish DNA: to act quickly and well in times of crisis. Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Without great speeches. Just do it. Do not sink into despair, on the contrary, believe in it. In Flanders, very little is said regarding our standards and values. Besides, I still don’t know what those terms mean.”
Rik Torfs: “The other virologists are a little afraid of Marc Van Ranst”
What are the Walloons waiting for to act?
The former CD&V senator nevertheless believes that Wallonia must understand that Flanders has no desire to impoverish itself by continuing to finance a region with a deficit and too little dynamics. During the pandemic, many Belgians have rediscovered beautiful stretches of nature on the other side of the linguistic border. “I was struck by the fact that Flemings or Dutch residing in Wallonia praised the merits of their adopted region by offering Bed&Breakfasts, for example. Thanks to them, their Flemish or French-speaking compatriots have rediscovered beautiful unsuspected corners. But more Walloons might have taken these initiatives too… and acted. Let’s take another example: the reconversion of former coal mines in the Walloon region or the former Caterpillar site. Why not have set up innovative SMEs in this or that niche of the future on these old sites?”
Immersion education is popular today in French-speaking Belgium. “It’s good but it’s not enough, he continues. Once back home, they once once more immerse themselves in an exclusively French-speaking world. These young people don’t speak Dutch at home, never watch Dutch programs on TV… We have to make more efforts. But the world is globalizing and English, the language of business, took over a long time ago.”
don’t despise
It is essential to discuss and encourage good relations in the cultural or economic fields without mutual contempt, assures Rik Torfs. Should financial solidarity between Flemings and Walloons be reconsidered? “There are limits. Helping is good, but not at any price. It is necessary to empower all the actors, it makes sense”, he observes.
The Walloon decline? “I am moderately optimistic for Wallonia. Things are changing slowly. There is a desire on the part of certain parties to move forward. I am in favor of a debate open to all, without excluding any party. In my opinion, even the extreme right must have the opportunity to defend its ideas. I am opposed to the media cordon which, in Flanders, has long since ceased to exist. Everyone should be judged on their actions. Defining broad principles is not always the right method to follow. A personalist approach, in my opinion, is essential here.”
The 2024 elections? “There will have to be a government of national unity without excluding, I think, the N-VA or the PS. Yes, I believe that the CD&V is on the verge of implosion and that it will be necessary to start once more on more solid foundations. Who still wants to engage in politics today? If nothing changes, the Vlaams Belang will become more and more powerful. There is an urgent need to stop the status quo we face today.”
Series – These Flemings who live in Wallonia
They are Flemish and Dutch as their mother tongue. But, for one reason or another, they came to live in Wallonia.
(1/6) Rik Torfs, professor of canon law and former elected CD&V, lives in Chaumont-Gistoux. He praises the warmth of the welcome reserved for him. But believes that Wallonia should move more.
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