Bart De Wever: “Let Flanders decide for itself about nuclear power.”

“If the Vivaldi government cannot make the decision, then the competence for the nuclear power phase-out should go to Flanders,” says N-VA chairman Bart De Wever. “In Flanders, there is no support whatsoever for a nuclear power phase-out. Why then should we let ourselves be held hostage by a small green party in the federal government?” Bart De Wever proposes an “institutional atom bomb”, as the PS with Philippe Moureaux did in 1991 concerning the Walloon arms export licences.

Green rag

“The nuclear phase-out is only defended by the green parties in the government. Furthermore, the Groen party is also a minor player in a federal government without a Flemish majority. Is De Croo now going to let the Groen party treat him like a rag, too?” wonders Bart De Wever.

“All the other party chairs on the Flemish side are actually not in favour of this nuclear step either. When I was negotiating a deal with the PS in 2020, all the chairs involved agreed to scrap the nuclear power phase-out in that deal,” says Bart De Wever.

Flemish agreement easy

He thinks that an agreement can thus easily be reached among the Flemish parties. “In Wallonia and Brussels, Ecolo is much stronger, so there they will have to take a different path.”

Nuclear power phase-out is madness

Bart De Wever points out once again that a nuclear exit is still complete madness: “Energy will become more expensive and dirtier, the supply of energy will be compromised and we will also become even more dependent on countries such as Russia.”