As a Dutch-speaking chief of staff, you are active within a French-speaking party. Is your appointment intended to unite Belgium, or rather to put MR more clearly on the map in Flanders?
I am a clear opponent of separatism. In my bestseller, “Flanders, Wallonia, je t’aime, moi non plus”, I have listed all the reasons – peppered with figures – why Belgium should remain one country. I am in favor of subsidiarity. Assigning each policy area to the most suitable level.
As far as political parties are concerned, we should be able to vote for parties in Belgium that campaign in Belgium with a Belgian program in the federal elections. So yes, that is why the MR should also be on the map in Flanders.
In the previous elections, it appeared that many winning parties in Flanders tended to follow a centrist or even economically center-left course. If the MR actively expands in Flanders, will the party weaken its purely liberal principles to appeal to more voters?
The MR is known precisely for its clearly liberal program. And that is exactly what Flanders wants: a clearly liberal party that is not separatist. And there is currently no such party in Flanders.
Is MR Flanders just an idea for the time being, or is chairman Bouchez already working concretely on a Flemish chapter?
Many Flemish people are already members of the MR and many people have already applied to work on an MR project in Flanders. Our research department will also be Belgian, so it is much more than just an idea. Our chairman will also participate in debates in Flanders and he is also learning Dutch. He will be fine.
Can those interested already apply for an MR Flanders membership card, or does membership still only happen through MR “tout court”?
Yes, certainly, and many already have. So yes, come on over; you are more than welcome.
What specific message does MR want to convey to Flemish entrepreneurs and the self-employed? Or is MR aiming for a broader, more general message to Flemish voters?
Being liberal means encouraging personal initiative, but that goes hand in hand with collective responsibility. In concrete terms, that means encouraging people to give the best of themselves. Hard work must be encouraged. Entrepreneurs must have room to do business, in every sense of the word. And with a well-functioning economy like that, you can help people in need and finance social security in a sustainable way. Yes, that message resonates in Flanders.
Within Europe, there is often a critical left-wing attitude towards US President Trump. What is the MR’s position on transatlantic relations and the United States in this context? If you could address President Trump directly, what would you say to him?
Economists, myself included, have emphasized the positive effect of free trade for years. Protectionist policies will seriously impact international trade and impoverish both the economies of the countries that suffer as a result and the American economy itself. Protectionism is often synonymous with collective impoverishment. Studies have shown that the impact on economic growth primarily affects America itself.
On the other hand, the principle of rationalizing and reducing government spending is completely liberal. The transatlantic bond has not been broken, but the uncertainty caused by the president’s statements about the involvement of the United States in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and even in NATO itself, has the merit of forcing Europeans to become militarily autonomous. It is a powerful incentive to take your own fate into your own hands. An alliance is a bit like a friendship. Not a relationship in which one is structurally dependent on the other. A balanced relationship should guarantee the solidity of an alliance that has existed for a long time and is fully justified by the common values and principles of our two western continents.
And what I would say to Trump: Make the world great again!
Jewish community in Flanders is very different from that in Brussels and Wallonia, and traditionally voted for Open VLD until the party shifted to the left. After the speech by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo about the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, that relationship deteriorated further, with a strong shift towards the N-VA. Now that the N-VA may get a chairwoman who represents a more left-wing course, what is your message to the Jewish community of Antwerp?
Regardless of the evolution of these two Flemish parties, the message of the MR will not change. We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself and to respond. We demand the release of the hostages and an end to the bombings. We support the federal government’s desire for the European Union to play a leading role in diplomatically reaching a two-state solution that guarantees Israel’s security and enables the recognition of Palestine, while respecting its territorial integrity. We condemn any violation of international law, international humanitarian law and human rights by all parties involved.
The climate of anti-Semitism in Belgium is not diminishing. Jewish students still cannot feel safe at universities. President Trump responds firmly to the inflammatory language of pro-Hamas demonstrators and protesters who chant anti-Semitic slogans. Does MR want to take stronger action against anti-Semitism in Belgium, and how exactly?
The MR encourages universities to prevent extremist and Islamic organizations such as Samidoun from infiltrating students and their organizations on campuses. Universities must absolutely guarantee the safety and well-being of Jewish students on campuses and not hesitate to call in the authorities if violence or physical or verbal threats occur.
We also advocate appointing a commissioner to fight anti-Semitism, i.e. a dedicated representative for anti-Semitism. We cannot allow this fight to be subsumed by anti-racism, as many anti-Semites often try to do. This already exists in the US and at the European level. It makes it possible to identify anti-Semitic incidents, draw up reports, assist in prosecution and discourage today’s particularly active anti-Semitic propaganda. Furthermore, we oppose any pro-Palestinian demonstration that includes the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. This is tantamount to saying that the area from the Jordan to the Mediterranean will be cleansed of Jews (driven back to the sea). A “judenfrei” zone (free of Jews). It is in fact the “slogan of the final solution 2.0”. Jews are outraged by this slogan. It is as if people were calling for the destruction of an entire population group during demonstrations. This slogan was created by the PLO, then abandoned by them, and later adopted by Hamas.
Our newspaper was the first to publish the dossier on the collaboration of the NMBS (Belgian Railways) during the Holocaust. Yet nothing concrete has happened, except for a few reports. During the presentation of the report by the so-called “group of wise men,” which even the initiators were not allowed to attend, it was stated that compensation is difficult “in the current climate.” Don’t you have the impression that the pressure from anti-Jewish demonstrators even influences how Belgium deals with its own Holocaust past? What is your response to this?
For at least two years, the MR has been demanding that the NMBS officially apologize for its complicity in these atrocities. On December 19, 2023, our Brussels MP, Viviane Teitelbaum, stated that the NMBS “should at least apologize for sending people to certain death and having been paid for doing so.” At the time, she argued for a public presentation of the report “at a time when we are seeing an explosion of racist and anti-Semitic acts worldwide and in Belgium.
Our magazine has also published extensively on stolen Nazi art, which is still in Belgian, mainly Flemish, museums. The government is also trying to sweep this issue under the carpet. We propose that if no heirs can be found, the deeds of ownership – even if the artworks physically remain in the museums – officially pass to the Jewish community, as has already happened in other countries. How does the MR feel about this proposal?
The issue of returning objects stolen by the Nazis that are currently in museums is complex and raises ethical, legal and historical questions. On the one hand, there is a strong moral argument in favor of restitution. These art objects were taken from their Jewish owners. The descendants of these victims have a legitimate claim to these goods, not only as family inheritance, but also as a form of recognition and symbolic redress for the injustice suffered. Restitution is an act of justice. On the other hand, identifying legitimate heirs is difficult: some did not survive, others have no documented proof of ownership, and archives are sometimes incomplete. Moreover, these objects, exhibited in public museums, serve an educational mission about the Holocaust, which benefits society as a whole. In practice, efforts have been made since the 1990s, particularly with the Washington Principles (1998), an international non-binding agreement that encourages restitution or fair solutions for stolen works of art. In our opinion, a balanced solution lies in prioritizing restitution when the descendants are identifiable and the looting has been proven, while museums may retain some objects under conditions of transparency (public acknowledgement of their origin and compensation for the families).
What role does the MR see for itself in strengthening the business climate in Belgium, especially in comparison with competing countries such as the Netherlands and France? In France, for example, a small self-employed person can earn up to 77,000 euros per year by paying a 20% tax including social security contributions, without any deductions, but also without additional administration. Does the MR have any proposals of this nature?
In terms of taxation, there are flexi-jobs where your gross salary is equal to your net salary. A nice system, right? But one of the major bottlenecks for entrepreneurs is the lack of labor. 95% of our SMEs say they cannot grow faster because they cannot find people. Limiting unemployment in time is the best guarantee for bringing people back into the labor market. When Sweden reduced the duration from 90 to 60 weeks for people over 55, the employment rate for this group immediately rose by 10%. And when Slovenia reduced unemployment benefits from twelve to six months, employment rose by 19% for men and 31% for women. All these examples prove that when people feel the pressure of the end of unemployment benefits, there is a dynamic in the labor market. It is important that this goes hand in hand with an activation policy by the VDAB and Forem.
In your opinion, are there specific policy areas in which MR clearly differs from Open VLD and N-VA and if so, which are they?
Unfortunately, the Open VLD has shifted to the left and has also completely neglected the theme of the economy and entrepreneurs. The N-VA is an emanation of the Volksunie and its DNA is the division of the country. The MR differs in that it consistently opts for an economy based on enterprise and work and a Belgium in accordance with its adage: ‘l’union fait la force’.
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