"It's unbelievable how easily people change into the murderers of their own neighbours"

The Belgian Prime Minister will never forget his first real foreign trip in office. Prime Minister Bart De Wever travelled to Ukraine to witness the horror firsthand.

A visit to the Ukrainian Bucha profoundly affected Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Tuesday, who struggled to hold back his tears amid the horror caused by the Russians there. And that's not coincidental, as Bart De Wever's father had many friends in Ukraine.

The Belgian government leader went to Ukraine at the invitation of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) and Defence Minister Francken were also in Ukraine with De Wever. The Belgian government sends an unequivocal message to the world: "Russia is the aggressor in this conflict. Ukraine is the victim. Let there be no doubt about that." This was stated by the Belgian Prime Minister after his meeting with Zelensky.

The Russian army conquered Bucha shortly after the war began and murdered about five hundred residents in a merciless manner. The Belgian politicians saw the evidence of this firsthand, which made a strong impression. "Bucha is not an isolated case. From Mariupol to Izium, from Kramatorsk to Kherson, the pattern is the same: terror, torture, mass murders. These are not tragic wartime mistakes. These are war crimes. Systematic. Calculated. Intentional," stated Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés).

When De Wever saw the photos of the exhumed and burnt bodies or of Ukrainian residents who were shot dead in cold blood and left lying on the street, it almost became too much for him. He held back tears. "It's unbelievable how easily people change into the murderers of their own neighbours. This is Oradour you're looking at (the French village that the Nazis razed to the ground in WWII and that can still be visited, ed.). It's always the same, always the same images," declared an emotional De Wever to the Belgian and international press that had accompanied him.

(SR - Source: Belga/GVA/Het Nieuwsblad - Photo: ©Picture by DANYLO ANTONIUK / Avalon for DPA Picture Alliance - Photoshot)