Speaking on VRT’s flagship current affairs programme Terzake Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) linked last night’s shooting in Merksem in which an 11-year-old girl was killed in the northern port city to a settling of accounts among drug traffickers.
“The girl’s family is known to the authorities. There have been earlier incidents. This clearly looks like a settling of accounts among drug traffickers” the mayor said.
“A drugs war is in progress. Criminals are attacking the homes of other criminals. This is what we have been experiencing for months now. What I’ve been fearing for some time has happened: an innocent victim, a child, has been killed”.
“This is particularly painful, but it was bound to happen. This can only encourage us to work more closely with the justice and home ministers and step up our efforts within the country and beyond to stop the drug maffia”.
“I’ve already had several good conversations with justice minister Van Quickenborne (Flemish liberal) and I hope we can add several more soon. For me personally, the national drug plan that is being prepared is a disappointment, but we will continue our discussions with the federal government”.