Bart De Wever

Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (°Mortsel, 21 December 1970) is a Flemish politician and since 2004 has been the president of the N-VA, a Flemish party that strives for an independent Flanders. He has also been a member of the Flemish parliament since 2004. He played a prominent role in the 2007 Belgian government formation.

Biography

De Wever finished his studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) as a master in history. During his years as a student, he was a member of the Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV, Liberal Flemish Students' Union), the Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond (KVHV, Catholic Flemish Students' Union) of Antwerp and Louvain. He is also the former editor in chief of "Tegenstroom" (magazine of KVHV-Antwerp) and "Ons Leven" (magazine of KVHV-Leuven).Professionally, he was engaged as a scientific assistant working on the 'Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging' (New Encyclopedia of the Flemish Movement), in which he wrote articles about the Taal Aktiekomitee, the Vlaams Blok and the Vlaamse Militanten Orde (Flemish Militants Order), among other topics.

De Wever is apparently seen by some as a conservative with a moderate right-wing image.Fact|date=August 2008 On 1st August 2008, while being interviewed on an early morning TV programme, he had this to say about his French-speaking fellow-citizens: "I think that there is no French-speaking minority in Flanders; there are immigrants who have to adapt. We ask the Moroccans and the Turks to do that. We don't say to them 'There's a lot of you, so Arabic will become an official language.' That's crazy." [http://www.sudpresse.be/la_une/details/une/Une/2008/08/01/article_nv_a_les_francophones_sont.shtml] He is also an admirer of the Irish conservative philosopher Edmund Burke, and his Burkean conservatism.

In 2004, he was elected as president of the N-VA with 95% of the votes. He was the only candidate.

De Wever went through a rough stretch in 2006 when he accepted conservative liberal Jean-Marie Dedecker as an N-VA member, which caused a break-up with the CD&V. To make peace with this (much larger) party, Dedecker had to leave. Although he was criticised extensively, the local N-VA leaders reaffirmed their trust in De Wever, which allowed him to remain president.

Political resumé

* Member of the Flemish Parliament. (2004-2007)
* Representative (2007- )
* Member of the district council of Berchem (1996-1997)
* President of the N-VA (2004- )
* Member of Antwerp municipal council (2007- )

Controversies

In the company of Jean-Marie Le Pen

In 1996, he was photographed at a meeting with the French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. [Pierre Gilissen, " [http://www.lalibre.be/index.php?view=article&art_id=367438 La photo qui énerve Bart de Wever] ", Le Soir, 31 August 2007.]

Allegation of negationnism

In October 2007, in reaction to the apology of the Mayor of Antwerp for his city's collaboration in the deportation of Jews during World War II, Bart De Wever claimed that ::"Antwerp did not organise the deportation of the Jews, it was the victim of Nazi occupation... Those who were in power at the time had to take tricky decisions in difficult times. I don't find it very courageous to stigmatise them now." [ [http://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2007/10/mentioning_the_war.cfm A Belgian leader flirts with the far-right] , "The Economist", 31 October 2007.] He later apologized to Antwerp Jews. [ [http://www.ejpress.org/article/21323 Flemish nationalist politician apologizes to Antwerp Jews] , "European Jewish Press", October 2007.]

Following these events, in a tribune published in Le Monde, the Belgian writer Pierre Mertens claimed that [Bart De Wever was] a "convinced negationist leader". De Wever decided to sue Mertens in court for this allegation. [(nl) [http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF08072008_012 Le Soir daagt De Wever uit] , "De Standaard", 8 July 2008.] [(fr) [http://www.dhnet.be/infos/monde/article/214293/bart-de-wever-attaque-le-monde.html "Bart de Wever" attaque Pierre Mertens] , La Dernière Heure, 8 July 2008.]

References