Jef Elbers is no stranger to the north of the country. After growing up in Brussels, the septuagenarian has lived in Knokke-Heist since 1993. And the least we can say is that he has a grudge once morest the Walloons. A Flemish activist, he chaired the local branch of the Vlaams Belang for a short time, firmly opposing the “francization” of the coastal municipality.
With very controversial positions, it is difficult to paint a very flattering portrait of Jef Elbers. Especially since the man once once more noticed himself (negatively) this week in a Lidl in Knokke-Heist. The man entered the store yelling and lashing out at a coffee display. The reason for his anger? French advertisements. “I am taking this action because I have informed Lidl three times that they are not allowed to put advertisements in French. They don’t understand, so I’m doing this, ”he explains before tagging the display.
And when a member of staff intervenes to try to calm Jef Elbers, he gets even more carried away. “No, no, you’re not touching me,” he shouts before throwing the display on the ground. “It’s not vandalism, it’s the defense of the Flemish character of Knokke-Heist”, he defends himself. ” I’ve had it up to here. I saw the francization of Brussels, Halle and Zaventem. That’s why I came to live in Knokke-Heist. I don’t want it to start here too,” he adds.
Unable to get the reassembled “client” out, the employees waited for the intervention of the police, who managed to get him to leave. “The social media video shows the facts. We have prepared the necessary minutes. There was never any question of physical aggression, ”explains an agent to Laatste Nieuws.