During his visit to Ukraine the Belgian leader was shown photos of the Russian butchery in Boucha during the first days of the Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Mr De Wever was clearly moved by the images. Russian soldiers slaughtered 501 people in Bucha, a town in Kyiv oblast in March 2022.
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) explained he had a special bond with Ukraine: “My father was a regular visitor following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He travelled the country by train, made numerous friends and they also visited us in Belgium, to do odd jobs, to earn a little cash. They hailed from across the country. You wonder what happened to these people. It's really hard looking at these photos".
Quizzed about whether this presentation changed the way he looked at the war Mr De Wever said: “War is war. Corrupt leaders can easily convince people to turn into their neighbours’ killers. It has always been like this. Sadly, it will always be this way. These are the images of Oradour, a vanquished army that attacks a civilian population. How many times have we not seen this in history? It’s incredible that something like this can happen, but it does.