2023-06-03 10:17:00
Without Ecolo-Groen in power, ecology will no longer be a priority for the federal government. This is what George Gilkinet declares coldly, when we ask him about the consequences of the “environmental break” episode.
On May 23, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the legislation should not be overloaded by strengthening the standards for nature restoration, provoking an outcry in the environmental camp. Several ministers stepped up, such as Zakia Khattabi (Climate, Federal) or Céline Tellier (Environment, Wallonia).
”An episode like this shows that if we [les écologistes] lower our guard, if we are inattentive or if we are not in government, ecology risks passing as the fifth priority. However, ecology is the health of our children”declares Minister Gilkinet, who presents himself as a “eco-optimist”.
Are the other parties therefore disinterested in the environmental issue? The federal elected nuance. “The difference with the traditional parties when it comes to the environment is that for them, it is one issue among others. To see that one can afford to deal after the others, as the statements of Alexander De Croo show. However, for us, it is from the environment, its constraints as much as its opportunities, that we intend to define the other policies.”
According to the Minister of Mobility, Alexander De Croo follows the position that the N-VA defends within the Flemish government. The liberal holds a speech which “is the one held by the most conservative forces in the European Parliament”, a speech that the greens will not tolerate in any case. “The debate may be tough with the Greens on the matter, but we are not going to accept the idea of a break.
“The NVA is very clear that they don’t want the Greens. That settles the question”
If he is delighted to see ecology return to the public debate through Alexander De Croo, George Gilkinet regrets however that it is under the impulse of the N-VA, a party which he judges very severely . “As an environmentalist, I don’t want to be guided by the N-VA. They attack anyone who fights for more dignity for the least respected people in society. They put the brakes where it should be accelerated in terms of nature protection.”
And to quote the “dismantling” of civil protection, orchestrated when Jan Jambon (N-VA) was Minister of the Interior, which today is felt during environmental disasters such as floods or the fire in the Fagnes. “The N-VA is a danger for the future of the country, no one will deny that.”
Under these conditions, could ecologists and nationalists get along in a coalition? “The NVA is very clear that they don’t want the Greens. That settles the question. And it’s better that way, actually. We are poles apart. With us, we will not make index jumps and we will not sit down on questions relating to the future of the planet and its inhabitants”.
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