This Friday, we relayed to you the information that the N-VA had demanded accounts from the general administrator of RTBF Jean-Pol Philippot in order to clarify the situation around the controversial trip of Hadja Lahbib. The newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs had traveled to Crimea when she was still a journalist in 2021. Today, this trip is arousing controversy (reminder of the precise facts here) and many political figures have commented on the case.
“This absurd and low political bashing must stop”, tweeted the president of MR Georges-Louis Bouchez, the party behind the appointment of Hadja Lahbib. The Montois attacked two predecessors of the former journalist in the Foreign Affairs portfolio, Karel De Gucht and Willy Claes who had spoken on this subject in Het Nieuwsblad.
“Receiving lessons from someone who had to resign from NATO because of a corruption affair goes beyond the limits of indecency (…) And what about the great Karel De Gucht who multiplied diplomatic incidents so many mistakes he made? “Let’s get a little serious again and if some are bored, let them do real analyzes on the issues of our time instead of this lamentable game”he concluded.