Stoic (1)
“Do you know what happiness is? The moment your son graduates from boarding school in Mechelen. Or the moment you realize that you are unexpectedly going to win the elections.” In between forming governments, Bart De Wever (N-VA) made time for the weekly magazine Humo. “Or, on ski vacation, the moment when you can lay down a first track early in the morning: you are the first to descend, and once you are down, you look back and see your own ski track in the snow. Just then the sun peeks over the mountain ridge, and it casts a golden glow over everything. That is happiness. And that is short, right? A minute, at most a few minutes. Then life catches up with you again.”
“I count my blessings, as stoicism teaches me. By the way, I try to start each day with a stoic wisdom.” He smoothly quotes Marcus Aurelius: “Receive with modesty, relinquish without attachment.” Conner Rousseau (Vooruit) is undoubtedly curious whether De Wever will be able to distance himself sufficiently from the N-VA program in the coming days, without attachment.
Stoic (2)
A warning comes from Brussels, however: “Never give in too quickly,” is the advice of Annemie Neyts, grande dame of the Open VLD. “It often pays to keep your foot down as long as possible, that’s how I’ve achieved results.”
However, her advice to the Brussels medium Bruzz is primarily aimed at the Brussels formation, which is in such a slump that it may well set a regional record next Sunday.
Tennis
CD&V politician Tine Maertens has found love with a VRT sports anchor, reports Dag Allemaal, which previously reported on the breakup between Karl Vannieuwkerke (53) and Caroline Vereenooghe, CEO of the company that does the merchandising for the VRT programme Vive le vélo. In the Westhoek, the new relationship is said to have been “no secret for a while now”, because “both Tine and Karl are well-known figures in the association life”. The 31-year-old Maertens has not yet built up an immense CV as a politician, but the physical education teacher is a municipal councillor in the West Flemish municipality of Koekelare, where CD&V is in opposition and socialist Patrick Lansens has been in charge since 1995.
The two lovebirds have known each other “for a long time”, intimates told Dag Allemaal, “even their parents are friends”. And by “know” is meant: “they have played a tennis tournament together several times”.
Stoic (3)
De Wever finds culinary happiness in mussels. “Eating mussels on the Left Bank with a view of the Scheldt, as an Antwerp resident you can’t get much closer to God. Mussels are nature, right? People who came up with the idea that more than celery and onion should be added to that, shouldn’t really have the right to vote.”
It is not yet known whether this reform will be included in the initial memorandum of the federal formation.
No in French
Neyts still has warnings in Bruzz. “The most important thing, and I have been harping on about this for a very long time, is the guaranteed political representation for Dutch speakers in the Brussels parliament. I have fought for this for years, even nagged.”
At the same time, she was never a language fetishist. “For the Flemish, I always say: it is better to say no in French than yes in Dutch. I was often asked what language we used in government. And then I answered that I am of the principle that you preferably use the language that is best understood. So we spoke French, so that there would certainly be no misunderstandings about how we thought about things.”
Stoic (4)
Gossips attribute Bart De Wever a sense of humor, but: “Cheerfulness is a challenge for me,” says De Wever in the same weekly. “But we can always try.”
His physical peak came three years ago during the Athens marathon. He completed it “on a downright horrible course: a kind of Greek A12, with tire centers and big Indian restaurants everywhere”. “But then, right at the end, you arrive in Athens and with your last bit of strength you enter the Panathinaiko, the mother of all Olympic stadiums. One bend, and then you suddenly see it looming in the distance: the Parthenon!”
According to the lyrical weekly, when he recalled that sporting or historical experience, he got tears in his eyes, because as it says: “(Tears in the eyes) That was… fantastic. Really fantastic. It was the highlight of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.” Wait until he finally enters Wetstraat 16 with his last bit of strength.