On public radio, Alexander De Croo spoke regarding the situation in Ukraine. The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Belgium was not taking part in this war. “Ukraine did not choose this war. Each country has the right to defend its territory, it is in all the conventions. And so, when a country asks for support from other countries, it is normal that we can do it without being part of this war, ”he said on La Première.
“On the other hand, the situation is so serious. Even for President Putin, in war there are rules to be respected, in particular to preserve civilians,” he added. “From NATO’s point of view, the absolute priority is to defend our borders. Moreover, Belgium is sending soldiers to Romania with this in mind. I am convinced that this war will always end with diplomacy, with people talking to each other”.
But the Prime Minister insists: “The priority is humanitarian aid”
The Ukrainian crisis is changing thinking regarding phasing out nuclear power
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also underlined on Monday how much the situation had evolved in terms of energy supplies – in particular due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine – since the agreement reached on December 23 by the seven Vivaldi parties on a possible exit from nuclear power.
“The current situation is very different from when we took the decision at the end of December” – when the federal government had set around March 18 the deadline for a decision to close all nuclear power plants by 2025 or the extension of the two most recent reactors, Tihange 3 and Doel 4 -, said Mr. De Croo (Open Vld) during the Matin Première program on RTBF-radio.
“At the end of December, we said: we will look at the two elements that are in the government agreement (security of energy supply and energy prices, Ed). In December, we added the geopolitical context as a factor,” he added.
After the Russian invasion in Ukraine, “the geopolitical situation has necessarily changed completely”, underlined the head of the federal government. He recalled that while Russia plays a major role on the European gas market, it is a “not very important” supplier for Belgium.
The full video interview