Guy Verhofstadt used to love Putin like his wallet

Belgian liberal politician Guy Verhofstadt demonizes the Russian president wherever he can. But the MEP – who is leaving EU politics because of scandals around him – used to love Vladimir Putin, because his wallet has dictated so.

Budapest, 2023. május 19. Guy Verhofstadt liberális EP-képviselõ, Belgium volt miniszterelnöke beszél a Holnap Magyarországa Egyesület, a Momentum és a Renew Europe EP-frakció által szervezett konferencián Budapesten 2023. május 19-én. MTI/Bruzák Noémi Fotó: Bruzák Noémi

Since the war broke out, Belgian liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt has been demanding that the West send as many weapons as possible to Ukraine, despite the fact that this significantly reduces the defense capabilities and economic performance of Western countries, and also prolongs the war by many months.

The scandal-plagued Belgian politician is now just as vocal and vehement in his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in every possible forum. On his social media pages, he refers to all Russian military operations as 'actions of Putin."

Yesterday again…

Putin is now systematically bombing hotels and targeting civilians especially journalists #RussiaTerroristState pic.twitter.com/N7DFneGJZM

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) August 11, 2023

Former Belgian PM Verhofstadt went as far as to call for the removal of another country's elected president, saying that the "fastest way to end the war is to end the reign of Putin.”

Missiles over Kyiv again…

People in the West calling for a quick deal with Putin are naive, stupid or worse. The fastest way to end the war is to end the reign of Putin… pic.twitter.com/ox9a1YoP2E

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) August 2, 2023

The Liberal MEP outright demonizes the Russian president, claiming that "famine and fear, destitution and death” have been unleashed on the world because of Putin's paranoia.

Famine and fear, destitution and death… all because of Putin’s paranoia.

Time that the whole world - including all developing countries - unite against him !https://t.co/rfV3F2mLqn

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) July 27, 2023

But Guy Verhofstadt, notorious for his many graft scandals, did not always feel this way about Vladimir Putin. There was a time when his interests dictated otherwise. It's no coincidence that the wealthy MEP, known for his frantic outbursts in parliament, is constantly pushing for a ban on Russian energy sources and the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is way more expensive and environmentally damaging.

From 2010, he sat on the board of the shipping company Exmar twice in a row, earning sixty thousand euros a year, according to some reports. Exmar is a shipping company specializing primarily in the transportation of LNG or liquefied natural gas by sea. The firm is also known to have tried to evade its tax obligations through an offshore company, wrote the international V4NA news agency.

V4NA quoted an introduction on Exmar’s website, reading

Over the years the EXMAR Group developed from a traditional shipping company into an innovation driven gas energy provider. Today we are actively involved at the very heart of the global energy value chain.

Being a worldwide company, it is present in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and also in the Far East, for example in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Its largest vessel can carry 138 thousand cubic meters of LNG and there are several ports where the firm has a stake in transforming and storing liquefied gas, V4NA found.

Exmar also writes on its website that “it has always been in EXMAR’s DNA to be the first mover to adapt to changing situations and to determine its own course.” It is not only its own course, however, which it tries to determine, but also the European Union’s. Some Brusselites have been saying for years that instead of receiving gas through pipelines, European countries should switch to LNG

Guy Verhofstadt has also "vilified" all energy carriers transported by pipeline. It comes as little surprise, as the liberal politician is a link between Exmar and Brussels. Already in 2010, Verhofstadt had a vested interest in promoting the maritime transport of gas. He has been lobbying diligently ever since to have the EU force its member states to use sea transport for energy carriers. Later the politician, who in the meantime has become notorious for corruption scandals and his immense personal wealth, stepped up his lobbying activity and became a vocal opponent of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Many EU countries have begun investing in the sea transport of energy because of the sanctions. A large number of member states started construction projects in their seaports, even those which already had LNG terminals. Some of those projects also involve Exmar as a contractor, or as a silent partner. That is, Exmar and its shareholders may earn big money on the increased demand for tankers to transport energy, V4NA summarized.

Magyar Nemzet has contacted Guy Verhofstadt to find out how much he earned from being a board member and shareholder of Exmar for several terms, a company that may have contribute euro millions to Russian revenues.

Nearly a third of the European Parliament's lawmakers have declared external incomes in addition to their paid jobs as MEPs, according to the 2018 report published by Transparency International. Some MEPs hold important positions in various companies, corporations or interest groups, which is in line with current regulations provided that no conflict of interest exists. In recent years, however, Brusselites have not been subjected to proper controls in this regard, as revealed by Brussels' latest graft scandal.

Many MEPs earn incomes of hundreds of thousands of euros in these positions on top of their regular salaries from the EP, while some of them make over one million euros from outside sources. Not long ago, Guy Verhofstadt was receiving the third highest income from activities outside the European Parliament, V4NA reported.

Cover photo: Liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium, speaks at a conference organized by the Tomorrow's Hungary Association (Holnap Magyarorszaga Egyesulet), Momentum and the Renew Europe EP Group, in Budapest, 19 May 2023. (Photo: MTI/Noemi Bruzak)