Federal negotiations? “No comments”. A book of memories? “Same answer”. The debacle of the MR in Wavre after more than 40 years of liberal mayorship? “I left the mayorate of Wavre 10 years ago. And for 10 years, I have not participated in any decision-making meeting, neither at the municipal level, nor at the level of my political party in Wavre”, he boils down to answering. Implied: Wavre is in the past.
Charles Michel: “Israel has the right to defend itself without inflicting collective punishment”
Focus on Inter
At 48, Charles Michel is far from having reached retirement age. The Wavrien is even in rather good shape. If you launch him, he is capable of talking endlessly about the challenge of European unity. Implicitly, we see that a return to the Belgian political scene does not seem to be in his cards. His entire speech is focused on the international: support for Ukraine, European defense, the challenge of the industrialization of Europe, the perception of the old continent by the rest of the world, European integration, relations with the United States and China after the American elections, the difficulty of the European Union in positioning itself on the Israeli-Palestinian question…
After ten years within the European Council, first as Prime Minister and then as President, Charles Michel believes he has a positive record to defend. Under his presidency, we were able to “making the European Union the first climate-neutral continent. Faced with Covid, the EU was able to provide “a united response, the strong response, both on the health level with coordinated management of this pandemic, but also on the economic level with the recovery fund, which is a financial instrument.” Facing “this war started by Russia against Ukraine”the European Council reacted very quickly, “in the hours following the outbreak of the all-out invasion of Ukraine”, with a double approach: “sanctions against Russia to try to hit the financial heart of the Kremlin war machine, and on the other hand, support for Ukraine.
“He gives me the tender look Maxou”: the actress Marie s’infiltrates attacks Charles Michel (VIDEO)
“Right side of history”
On the migration issue which agitates the European institutions? “It is a theme that is dear to me because I am a Prime Minister who put an end to his government on the question of international law, on the question of bilateralism. I am very proud to have put Belgium in the right place side of history”, he introduces. “The reality is that if we do not show that we are in control over our borders, over who comes and who does not come, and who has the right to stay or not to stay, if we give the feeling of renunciation, if we give the feeling that it is the mafias, the criminals and the smugglers who, for a payment of 10,000 dollars, decide who will take the risk of dying at sea and if not who will come to the territory, then we have a major problem of democratic legitimacy.”
Before rewinding to 2016: “At the time of the Syrian crisis, there was an inability for the European Council to talk to each other normally. They were bird names, they were caricatures. There was an inability to deal with this subject together, and this left its mark for years in the European Council. When I took over 5 years ago, I perfectly understood that one of my challenges was to recreate personal trust around the table. I used the talents I have in terms of mediation and trust to be able to recreate this atmosphere. Today, I am leaving a European Council in the hands of my successor who is in good health from the point of view of personal confidence.”
The disastrous succession of Charles Michel in Wavre
Orban and the far right
During his presidency, Europe also saw the rise of the far right in many countries. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who stood out for his anti-European declarations and his fraternities with Putin’s Russia, is currently at the helm of the rotating presidency of the European Union. This does not seem to worry Charles Michel too much, who has already announced that he will be present at the Budapest meeting that several European diplomats want to boycott.
“Those who wanted to question European values found themselves publicly very isolated. Concerning Victor Orbán, there are declarations, which are rhetoric, and then the decisions taken at the European Council. At no time has Hungary prevented the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, or the implementation of the promise made within the framework of the G7 to mobilize a total of around fifty billion euros of dollars for Ukraine and that we can recognize Ukraine’s candidacy to join the European Union.”
Finally, Charles Michel returns to the episode of his withdrawal from the European campaign. The critics who pushed him to give up, it was “an attack” against him, “but also against the institution [qu’il] represents”. “And at a time when the European Council was going to be in control after the elections for the institutional transition, I did not want that, whatever the bad intentions of those who made these attacks, that the European Council would be undermined. And so very quickly, I consciously made this analysis, sincerely, and I made the choice that you know. I have had no regrets.”
