N-VA leader De Wever rules out cooperation with Vlaams Belang
N-VA leader Bart De Wever will not join a government with far-right party Vlaams Belang after the elections, he said during the VRT programme Eerste Keus, which will be broadcast on Sunday.
De Wever said that Vlaams Belang did not want to participate in the federal government, which is where the "major problems of our time" such as migration, budget and climate should be dealt with. He also said he saw no opportunities for collaboration at the Flemish level. "My question is: to do what? I agree with that party on almost nothing. And I don't like the style of that party. The answer for me is 'no'," he said.
"How do you stop the growth of extreme ideas?"
It is the first time De Wever has stated his position so clearly on Vlaams Belang during his campaign. Other members of his Flemish nationalist party have not fully endorsed or opposed them.
In March, Flemish minister-president Jan Jambon said: “For us, Vlaams Belang is a party like any other. We will wait for the election results before discussing possible government participation.”
De Wever told VRT that the subject divided his party. "It is also a very difficult issue: how do you stop the growth of extreme ideas? Should you actually say, let them help manage the situation, and then we will see? Or should you not do that under any circumstances? That is a struggle that exists within different parties, and that also exists within mine; I readily admit that."
#FlandersNewsService | Bart De Wever © PHOTO BELPRESS
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