In this interview, the president of DéFI returned to the current energy crisis and the federal government’s response to it. “This government has been dithering for three or four weeks. I’m not saying it’s simple, but there were solutions on the table.”
François De Smet also spoke about the future of nuclear power in Belgium. “I think we need a lot more seriousness about nuclear. This is an extremely serious subject. Ideally, I am in favor of extending all possible reactors for ten years and the last two even for 20 years.“
“There is an almost pathetic and indecent little game around Doel 3 (…) I am beginning to understand why Engie seems to take the Belgian government for jokes (…). The current little game or in football is panicking because everyone is paying for the nuclear phase-out that shouldn’t have been done, everyone recognizes that now, everyone is trying to pass on the black valet so that no one is responsible for the closure of Doel 3. This is not serious.”
He recommends investments in new generation nuclear power and regrets the delay in this subject. “All traditional parties are responsible. Ecolo-Groen had the right diagnosis on global warming, but not necessarily on the solutions and so we have to come back to the anti-nuclear dogma in which we are immersed.“
In the rest of the interview, François De Smet also discusses aid to Ukraine or his potential candidacy for his own succession to the presidency of DéFI.