Bart de Wever: “This country is bankrupt. We are the new Greece” | Interior

“In America people are not in that shit. They did the opposite of what we did. They are now oil and gas exporters, but they certainly weren’t twenty years ago. Climate standards are of little use if all your companies go to America and China to produce, you’re broke and the climate is not saved. Yet. These are the green dogmas. “People need to realize that from time to time,” says de Wever.

Oil, gas and coal are no longer allowed. No investments were allowed in the reserves. Germany does not have a single LNG terminal (LNG terminal, ed.). The dumbest countries, Germany and Belgium, have gradually phased out nuclear power in parallel. We’ve taken away all energy, and made ourselves dependent on Putin. Now we stick to it.”

“The biggest electric gadget should come from Europe. Von der Leyen is on the right track when you say non-gas energy production should be decoupled from the price. Great profits are now being made from renewable energy. Billions are pouring into Paris. Europe can change that by saying: “You can have a price that is still profitable, but we get rid of everything in between that and the market price.” That means pumping billions and billions into our country, which you can then give to the consumer.”

The previous government, of which the N-VA was a part, decided that Tihange 2 and Doel 3 should be closed down. “It’s a purple-green law. We now have a purple and green government. That’s a recipe for disaster,” says de Wever. However, he participated in the approval of this law. “I was then alone. Then Elio Di Rupo declared in Parliament: “On what planet does N-VA live, considering it intended for nuclear power?” I cannot be inconsistent in positions. I have been championing nuclear power since the 1980s.

Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo (Open Vld) says we are “in a state of economic war”. It seems that “everything should be on the table”. According to de Croo, nuclear power plants can only be restarted within five years. Arranging the necessary permits takes a lot of time. De Wever thinks the reaction is “a little bit late”. “As beggars, we should now show up in Paris. We could have made a lot of profit with nuclear power plants, and now those assets are being given away. I think it’s a bit cheap for people to realize now that it’s not that simple.”

According to de Wever, it’s time for the “bitter facts.” It seems that “this country is bankrupt”. Look at our debt, government spending and deficit. It is worse than in southern Europe. This has to do with politics. This government has done nothing about it. I have said before that in the next economic shock we will be the new Greece. Unfortunately this is now. Mr. de Croo can say a lot, but he can do nothing. There are no stores.

“Especially in the discussion of the upcoming budget, we will have to consider what exactly can be done,” de Wever continues. “We have many energy-intensive companies in Flanders. They are very weak. In the port of Antwerp, some plants in the petrochemical port have already been closed.”

Tomorrow evening: First Big Money Debate, at 10.05pm on VTM, right after Blind Married, with answers to your questions about energy and money.

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