Failed Guy Verhofstadt lashes out against Viktor Orban

The ultrarich politician keeps sending messages on social media. In the past, he was closely connected to the Russian energy business.

Brüsszel, 2018. február 28. Guy Verhofstadt, az Európai Parlament Brexit-ügyi referense az EP brüsszeli plenáris ülésén 2018. február 28-án. (MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq) Fotó: STEPHANIE LECOCQ

Guy Verhofstadt took to social media to make yet another of his statements. The failed, liberal politician started lashing out against Viktor Orban again, sharing an excerpt from the prime minister's Friday morning radio interview.

In his view, Viktor Orban stabbed Ukraine in the back and he also added  a comment on Hungary misusing EU funds.

The accusation against Hungary comes from Guy Verhofstadt, who had his luxury villa renovated on taxpayers' money. 

Verhofstadt possesses a huge fortune. As Magyar Nemzet reported earlier, based on research by Transparency International, the newspaper Le Soir pointed out already in 2018 that the Belgian politician could have pocketed up to one and a half million euros on top of his monthly salary of 13 thousand euros during his previous term in the European Parliament.

Although MEPs are not forbidden from earning such side income, as long as they do not hide it from the authorities, Verhofstadt has made a remarkable amount of money in this way, according to Belgian news website Brussels Times.

So the liberal politician is clearly not short of assets, as is shown by the fact that he lives in a beautifully refurbished 17th-century riverside heritage building in central Ghent, Belgium. This is the house for the renovation of which he has received hundreds of thousands of euros of public money.

The V4NA international news agency reported last year that press reports suggested that the politician and his family bought the listed building – in which he still lives – in 2011 for one and a half million euros, together with two other families. According to the Belgian Knack newspaper, in 2012,

the cost of the renovation of the Verhofstadt residence was estimated at around 820,000 euros, but almost half of this was paid for by Belgian taxpayers.

For the renovation, the former prime minister has received substantial funding from the Flemish government, the province of East Flanders and the city of Ghent, totalling 327,784 euros,  according to information obtained by the Knack news portal.

The Ghent City Council has deflected criticism by saying that the money was given to the listed building, not to the owner, and that the renovation will contribute to the development of the city’s image. It’s true that the building was uninhabitable before the renovation and conversion, but thanks to the generous subsidy, the Verhofstadts were able to get away with renewing their family home at almost half the personal cost.

It is also interesting that Verhofstadt is making the accusation of stabbing Ukraine in the back although he was sitting on the board of directors of a shipping company – for 60,000 euros a year – which also had a contract with Russia's  largest company, Gazprom, and thus he happens to be directly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moreover, this contract was concluded at a time when Russia had just annexed Crimea.

Moreover, it also came to light that this shipping company tried to evade its tax obligations through an offshore company.

As our newspaper  reported, Verhofstadt recently announced that he will not run again in the EP elections in 2024.

It is a rather strange coincidence that the politician with a past marred by scandals leaves politics just after the eruption of the Brussels corruption scandal that shook the European Parliament.

He himself had been implicated in lobbying that raised the suspicion of graft as he also lobbied for the interests of oligarchs. He has a particularly close relationship with Nicolas Boel, owner of the Sofina holding company, which has an interest in GdF Suez.

Soon after the latter company wanted to acquire the waterworks of Thessaloniki, Greece, Mr Verhofstadt demanded a privatisation package from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in the European Parliament. 

At this time, Verhofstadt also sat on the board of the APG pension fund, and after his speech attacking PM Tsipras and Greece, three Greek ministers met with the leaders of APG within six months.

George Soros and Guy Verhofstadt

But it was not only Nicolas Boel's interests that Guy Verhofstadt lobbied for in the European Parliament as a key figure in the ALDE group. He is also known tomaintain a good relationship with US billionaire speculator and oligarch George Soros, and is considered as a trusted ally. He himself reported on his meetings with the US businessman.

It again led to considerable outcry when it was revealed that the ALDE party group was also financed by multinational corporations such as Monsanto, Microsoft, Google, Uber, Syngenta or Walt Disney, as some of these multinational companies are not registered in EU member states, but, for example, in the United States, Switzerland or various islands operating as tax havens.

This means that non-European companies and oligarchs may have intervened in the European Parliament elections. And it’s obvious that the US companies did not provide funding to the liberal party group out of sheer kindness.

It is noteworthy that Verhofstadt's name also came up in connection with the corruption scandal in Brussels precisely because of his lobbying activities. As it  turned out, not so long ago, in 2018, Guy Verhofstadt attended a conference in Morocco with Eva Kaili, one of the key figures in the Brussels corruption scandal, Eva Kaili.

Cover photo: Guy Verhofstadt (Photo: MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq)