The remarks cut against the EU’s broadly hard-line stance toward Moscow since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began and threaten to fuel a sensitive debate in the bloc about sanctions and Russian energy.
De Wever’s comments also come after a nationwide poll last week revealed he enjoys widespread support, with the Flemish-nationalist leader’s popularity not only at a record high in Dutch-speaking Flanders, but also growing in French-speaking Wallonia. The strong polling may help explain the prime minister’s willingness to push a politically sensitive argument.
“The conflict must be ended in Europe’s interest. Without being naive about Putin. That’s a mistake we must never make again. We must rearm and remilitarize the border. And at the same time, we must normalize relations with Russia and regain access to cheap energy,” De Wever said in L’Echo, adding it was a matter of “common sense.”
“Behind closed doors, European leaders tell me I’m right, but no one dares to say it out loud,” De Wever was also quoted as saying.
You don’t speak for us
De Wever’s comments struck a nerve within his ruling coalition, which — apart from the prime minister’s Flemish-nationalist N-VA — includes the Flemish socialist Vooruit party, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement, and centrist parties from both sides of the language border, Les Engagés and CD&V.
“The prime minister can say whatever he wants in his own name, but he cannot speak on behalf of the government and claim that we now suddenly want to beg Putin for cheap energy,” Conner Rousseau, president of Vooruit, told the VTM channel on Monday.