deBuren

On Tuesday 24th June Wilfried Martens will be interviewed by Mark Schaevers (Humo) at deBuren. The discussion is part of the Krasse Knarren series.

Krasse Knarren is a series of discussions and interviews with Flemish and Dutch politicians who can pride themselves on a long career. In the second half of 2007, deBuren organised two of these evenings in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy. On 13th November Frits Korthals Altes and Herman Decroo discussed Flemish and Dutch liberalism, and on 4th December Hedy d'Ancona and Léona Detiège talked about feminism and women in the Flemish and Dutch political world.

Two new sessions are planned for June 2008. On 10th June Jan Pronk and Willy Claes will reflect on the relationship between international freedom policy and development cooperation over the years, and on 24th June we shall welcome Wilfried Martens for a discussion with the Humo journalist Mark Schaevers. The discussion with Mr. Martens will be based on several television excerpts from various periods in Mr. Martens' long career.

Wilfried Martens (Sleidinge, 1936) is a Minister of State (honorary title for services as a minister) and has been chairman of the European Peoples' Party, the biggest faction in the European Parliament, since 1990. Between 1979 and 1992 he was prime minister in nine Belgian governments. He is regarded as one of the fathers of unionist federalism in Belgium. In 2006 his autobiography Luctor et emergo. De memoires was published by Lannoo.

In association with the Dutch Embassy