Leader Vooruit: US ambassador “should not interfere with our legal process”
Conner Rousseau, leader of the Flemish socialist party Vooruit, has responded sharply to the remarks made by the United States ambassador, Bill White, against Belgium in general and health minister Frank Vandenbroucke of Vooruit in particular. According to Rousseau, no one is above the law, and the American ambassador “should not interfere with our legal proceedings”.
Rousseau is responding to a long message posted on X by the American ambassador. In that message, Bill White refers to what he calls the “anti-Semitic prosecution” of three mohels - Jewish ritual circumcisers.
White also addresses the “very rude” minister of health Frank Vandenbroucke, of Vooruit, personally. He believes that the minister must make it legally possible for Jewish circumcisers to do their work. “Stop this unacceptable harassment of the Jewish community in Antwerp and in Belgium,” he added.
The ambassador also announced that he will travel to Antwerp next week to meet with the mohels concerned and their families. He calls on minister Vandenbroucke and Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau to accompany him.
But the latter is not at all pleased with White's statement. On the contrary. “We have no lessons to learn from America about good and affordable healthcare for all,” Rousseau declared emphatically in a written response. “Belgium is a constitutional state that protects its citizens against any form of arbitrariness or intimidation. Here, we let the courts do their work, and no one is above the law. Not even an American ambassador. He has no business interfering in our legal proceedings. I will not tolerate his insults to our country and our government.”
According to Rousseau, it is “appropriate for our minister of foreign Affairs (Maxime Prévot, ed.) to invite him to explain the workings of our constitutional state in detail again".
#FlandersNewsService | Vooruit's leader Conner Rousseau © BELGA PHOTO JILL DELSAUX
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