The president of the N-VA, Bart De Wever, has reiterated his intentions to impose autonomy in Flanders.
Speaking on Sunday at VRT’s De Zevende Dag programme, De Wever said that in the past “all major reforms were introduced extralegally and then legalised.” The party leader had already spoken about the topic extensively in an interview published on Saturday in De Tijd, saying that it had happened at various times in our history: "major reforms have been implemented outside the law. It also happened with education.”
"All major reforms were introduced extralegally and then legalised, I have spoken about this at length with former prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene," De Wever said. "In this country, you can be sure once you have (obtained) autonomy as far as governance is concerned, it will never be reconstituted, because why would you do something with a part of the country that thinks fundamentally differently and votes fundamentally differently," he continued, referring to Wallonia.
Related News
De Wever said he would only want to participate in a federal government - after the 2024 general election - if he was guaranteed such a fundamental reform of the country. "I will not participate in the status quo. Because then Flemish money will be lost."
The N-VA leader also spoke about Flemish sovereignty at a party theme day in Antwerp on Saturday. "I advocate a restoration of our popular sovereignty. And therefore, that the sovereign Flemish people can only transfer their sovereignty through a treaty ratified by the Flemish parliament. This is the spirit of confederalism," he said.
