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Farage rant makes Van Rompuy hero - in Belgium
‘Damp rag’ EU president Herman Van Rompuy says he pities Nigel Farage for his outburst
EU president Herman Van Rompuy has said he feels sorry for Nigel Farage, the Eurosceptic MEP who called him a "damp rag" during a blistering rant in the European parliament last month.
And Van Rompuy, who was once the prime minister of Belgium, told the BBC he is enjoying the best approval ratings of his career in his native land thanks to Farage's outburst - presumably because the UK Independence Party MEP also accused Belgium of being a "non-country".
"I found it so ridiculous that I was not even really angry," said Van Rompuy, who is not new to this kind of criticism, having been widely written off as a faceless bureaucrat by the British press after taking up his post in December 2009. "I feel pity for that kind of behaviour and that kind of man, that's all."
Farage was fined €3,000 for his rant after refusing to apologise to Van Rompuy. But a far greater punishment may be the realisation that his outburst has lent a certain amount of recognition to the man he called a "low-grade bankclerk".
Quite apart from the popularity of YouTube videos (see above) of Van Rompuy tutting as Farage lays into him, which have garnered at least 400,000 visits, the EU president tells the BBC: "I can assure you that I am now at the height of my popularity in Flanders, after the incident in the European Parliament.
"A lot of people feel themselves confident when they are governed by people who don't get nervous and angry at every incident." ·
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As a (walloon and french speaking) Belgian allow me to write that
Farage is right : Belgium is a non country and Mr Van Rompuy has likely been choosen because he looks like a harmless lower grade banking clerk - not dangerous for ambitious European politicians.
He claims that his popularity has been increased thanks to N Farage - I'll let him believe that, but the number of visions of the U-Tube clip indicates the opposite. And by claiming that his popularity is increased .... in Flanders, he demonstrates the very assertion of Mr Farage i e that Flanders is a country, but Belgium is not.
But the man is NOT harmless, Mr Van Rompuy whose recent appointment makes him in charge of uniting Europeans has demonstrated his abilities in the opposite direction : he has (in the past) been one of the pro-eminent actors in setting fire to my non-country; his leaving towards Europe arrived just at the time he was supposed to solve the very set of problems (one of them nick named BHV) he and his CVP political party were responsible of creating.
The King has passed the buck to another Flemish, big shot of the same political party, and himself another culprit of the same errors that created the current Flemish-Walloon difficulties; the problem will not be solved and will therefore contribute to the explosion of the non country.
Thanks Mr Farage, someone had to expose a sad truth that Europe and its member countries refuse to see ("oculos habent et non videunt, aures habent et non audiunt": to make the people see and hear the truth, one has to use very aggressive language, I am not sure, but I hope, that N Farage is an aggressive enough speaker)
Well, considering that I live in Brussels, and am intimate with many who work in the European Parliament in Brussels (just near the nicest bars in Brussels, O'Farrels and The Fatboys in Place Luxembourg if you need an execellent beer and good service), and feel obliged to comment on the raised profile of Nigel and Herman, now that he does him the honour of being a punching bag worthy of Nigel's oratory, and boosted both their careers by the indubitably fruitful partnership, I am led to observer that this is an excessively long sentence, and that I hope Herman is game for another round of punchbag as Nigel is also sans souci about the fine, and is more than good for another bruising, and in short they get on well together like Punch and Judy. And now I am off to steal a string of sausages and blame it all on the thieving crocodile who lives in my cupboard. Let's hear it for the Nigel and Herman show.
Non-Europeans need to Keep in Mind that Van Rompuy was appointed President...Not Elected.
He IS just "a faceless bureaucrat" that dictates to the EU Parliament what they can and can't vote on.
There is very little "democracy" in the European Union...because it's founders nether liked nor trusted the views of the average European Voter.
And hopefully, that will change...or the EU will Collapse or be forced to rule by force of arms.
I object to Farage speaking on my behalf. I am a British subject and regardless of any opinion on the EU or its personnel, I think Farage went well byond the pale in his attack on the personality of Mr Van Rompuy or the sovereign nation of Belgium. Such rudeness gives many of us in Britain a sense of shame. Again, I say to Farage, SHAME ON YOU sir.
This is not the first time Mr Farage has given someone a ragging in the chamber; he did an excellent job of telling Gordon Brown exactly what the majority of the British population think of him.
It might be showmanship of the worst kind but its rhetoric like this that causes the limp wristed, smart answering 'I'm in it for myself' politicians of today an awful lot of problems. So well done Mr Farage for ripping into a bloke I've never heard of and didn't want anyway, and for providing me with some extra insults I can use in my daily life. You, Mr Farage, are a star!
Farage might be £3,000 lighter however, Herman, in the morning you'll still a damp rag.