Belgium MP in parliament questions why his country allied with Turkey

Belgium MP Dries van Langenhove, who serves as the youngest member of parliament, targeted Belgium’s current and former Prime Ministers during a fiery speech, in which he also raised the Greek flag as a sign of solidarity.

“Prime Minister, if I told you that I would have given the keys of my house to a burglar and that I would now pay him not to break into my house, you might have declared me crazy. Well, this is exactly what CD&V, VLD and also the N-VA [Belgian political parties] did in 2016 when you signed a blackmail deal with Erdogan. You gave him the keys to our European borders and then paid him many billions of euros, not to make an abuse of these keys,” Van Langenhove said.

“But Erdogan, of course, is a whole lot smarter than you ‘establishment politicians’ are. The Turks have a leader who – unlike you – know what ‘Realpolitik’ is. Erdogan knew from the beginning that he could very easily blackmail Europe with this deal,” he added.

Van Langenhove also stated that his own party, the nationalist-populist Vlaams Belang, was the only party that did not support sending billions to Ankara in exchange for defence of the EU’s borders from mass migration.

“Do you know this flag, Prime Minister? Do you know these people?” Van Langenhove asked Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès as he held up the Greek flag.

“They are Greeks, and they guard our borders. They are also watching our future. So my question is simple, Mrs Wilmès: do you realise now who our true ally is? It is not Erdogan, madame Minister. It is our fellow Europeans, the Greek people,” he concluded.