The Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) travelled to the German city of Essen on Saturday evening to attend a performance by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Israeli maestro Lahav Shani. Mr De Wever’s presence at the concert by the orchestra that was removed from the Ghent Festival of Flanders has met with mixed reactions.
Prime Minister De Wever travels to Germany to attend performance by Israeli conductor Lahav Shani
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The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra was to have performed in Ghent (East Flanders) on Thursday as part of the Ghent Festival of Flanders. However, last week the festival’s organisers announced that they were cancelling the concert. The reason given was that there is insufficient clarity surrounding conductor's position towards what is described as “the genocidal regime" in Israel.
The Belgian PM had already condemned the festival’s decision to cancel the concert. His decision to travel to Essen was a show of support for Lahav Shani. Mr De Wever posted a photograph of himself and Mr Shani on his Instagram account with the text “There will never be room for racism or antisemitism in this country, under any circumstances.”
“That is where I draw the line. I strongly condemn the recent cancellation of the Munich Philharmonic by the Flanders Festival Ghent, solely on the basis of the origin of conductor Lahav Shani. I insisted on delivering this message to him personally, and to express my appreciation for his contribution to the power of music.
In a post on the social media platform X, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly thanked Mr De Wever. “I thank the Belgian Prime Minister for the strong sign of solidarity he has given with his visit to the Munich Philharmonic in Essen. Dear Bart De Wever, we cannot allow this flagrant antisemitism to take root.”
Political storm
The incident surrounding the exclusion of the Munich Philharmonic from the Ghent Festival of Flanders has divided the Flemish government. The Flemish Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele (nationalist) has sharply criticised it while the Flemish Culture Minister Caroline Gennez (socialist) supports the festival’s decision.
Meanwhile, the Flemish socialist leader Conner Rousseau has called on Mr De Wever to stop fueling the fire of discord surrounding the exclusion of Mr Shani and his orchestra. Mr Rousseau added Mr De Wever should dismiss the Flemish nationalist members of the festival's board of directors who co-approved and co-decided the cancellation of the concert by the Munich Philharmonic.
One of the Flemish nationalist politicians on the festival’s board, the MP and mayor of Aalst (East Flanders), Christoph D’Haese has threatened to resign from the festival’s board unless it reverses the decision to cancel the concert. Mr D’Haese describes the decision to cancel as “wrong”.
The far-right party Vlaams Belang is calling for an emergency meeting of the Flemish Parliament’s Culture Select Committee. The party accuses the festival of "the purest form of government censorship on the basis of origin".