Bart De Wever is calling for keeping five nuclear power stations open. “Anyone who is still arguing in favour of gas-fired power stations will receive a Groen party membership card from me.”

The decision on the nuclear power phase-out takes place on 18 March, but it now appears that even the Groen party wants to change its position on the two most recent nuclear power stations. However, Bart De Wever says it can go even further: “We must keep as many nuclear power stations open as possible. There is a war. The context has changed. That is also what the International Energy Agency says. Anyone who has not yet understood that we must make ourselves less dependent on gas will receive a Groen party membership card from me,” says Bart De Wever in an interview with the De Zondag newspaper.

Bart De Wever also utters a prayer of confession: “In the Swedish Government, we could indeed have kept two nuclear power stations operational, but the Liberals in particular, with Gwendolyn Rutten, did not want to know anything about it. It was a consensus: we then secured additional investments for defence. But I didn’t think the others would later be so stupid as to join forces with the Groen party.”

Green politics

“I hope now that everyone understands why prices are skyrocketing as they are. Why have we become so dependent on Russia? Because of green politics: no more nuclear power, no more fossil fuels, only renewable energy. The result: our own production drops. In my ideal world, we would go to a mix of 50% nuclear and 50% renewable.” For Bart De Wever, that means keeping five nuclear power stations open.

Completely insane

In the interview, Bart De Wever also criticises State Secretary Mahdi’s plans for the reception of Ukrainian refugees in people’s homes. “What Mahdi wants to set in motion is completely insane. Refugees are at risk of being scattered over a thousand and one locations. This concerns traumatised women and children. What if they soon find out that their husband or father died in the war? Who will support them then?” The fact that Mahdi has now also opted for collective reception in the meantime comes too late, Bart De Wever says. “Do you know what it is? The regular asylum reception centres are mostly packed with people who will not be granted asylum. That is the result of European mismanagement.”

Buffoon

In the interview, Bart De Wever is also particularly sharp about the ties that the Vlaams Belang party has with the Putin regime. “I once called Tom Van Grieken a buffoon. At the time, it was about the ties between his party and Russia. Matteo Salvini recently also received the same accusation. It is no coincidence that he also liked to have his picture taken with Putin. Vlaams Belang sent observers to the referendum on Crimea. That was nothing more than a favour to Putin.”

You can keep your junk

Vlaams Belang denies these ties, but Bart De Wever responds sharply: “No one believes that. Their hypocrisy is unbelievable. They are turncoats of the worst kind. A few weeks ago, Dewinter wanted to leave NATO, and now they are doing collection campaigns for the Ukrainian people. If I were a Ukrainian, I would say: you can keep your junk. I then have even more respect for the PVDA party, which consistently continues to support Russia.”