Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) has been attracting considerable international attention of late. His statement that Europe should not be a “miserable slave”, made at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) last week, was picked up and shared internationally. According to Flemish political scientist Steven Van Hecke (Leuven University), this is the result of a combination of circumstances.
According to Van Hecke, De Wever’s high visibility at Davos was partly by coincidence. The Prime Minister accompanied the King to the forum and had a scheduled meeting with Donald Trump, but no one had foreseen that the international context would become so explosive.
‘Luck was on his side,’ says Van Hecke. ‘Just as he had been unlucky earlier in December, when Euroclear became such a difficult issue, he now enjoyed the opposite: a moment when the international spotlight happened to be on him.’
Euroclear is the European securities clearing house based in Brussels where Russian assets are currently frozen.
In December, De Wever strongly opposed the European plan to use frozen Russian assets via Euroclear as collateral for loans to Ukraine. That opposition made the international media and, according to Van Hecke, gave De Wever his first push into the international spotlight.
‘Euroclear is a serious issue. If you play a leading role in it, you automatically come under scrutiny,’ he said.
On the right side of politics
According to Van Hecke, De Wever's prominence is also linked to the current political context in Europe. ‘The focus today is on the centre-right. Issues such as migration, innovation, the budget and the internal market are central. That ties in with De Wever’s own agenda.’
De Wever's fluency in German, English and French also contributes to his visibility in Europe. ‘That's a big plus for a European leader,’ says Van Hecke.
According to Van Hecke, it is too early to say whether Belgium can gain more weight within the EU. ‘Belgium has invested too little in sustainable alliances in recent decades. You can feel that in issues such as Euroclear.’
The ultimate test
‘The real test comes when Belgium is invited to the table where major geopolitical decisions are made, such as peace negotiations on Ukraine,’ says Van Hecke. ‘But that also depends on coincidences.’
According to the academic, it is more important for Belgium again to become a reliable partner. ‘We need to have our house in order. Brussels may be close to the European institutions, but that does not mean we are automatically included.’