Christoph D'Haese (born 25 February 1967) is a Belgian politician and is affiliated to the N-VA.[1]
Christoph D'Haese | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Mayor of Aalst | |
| Assumed office 2013 | |
| Member of the Chamber of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 February 1967 Aalst |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Political party | N-VA (2011-) Open VLD (2006-2011) |
| Residence | Aalst |
Biography
editD'Haese was born in 1967 in Aalst. He studied for a degree in law at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU-Leuven) and the University of Strasbourg. He worked as a lawyer specializing in criminal law and taught law at KU-Leuven. He also served on the Bar of Dendermonde until 2013.[2][1] In 2006, he was elected to the municipal council of Aalst for the Open VLD party and became chairman of the local council. In 2011, he left the Open-VLD and joined the New Flemish Alliance.[2] In 2014, he was elected as the Member of the Chamber of Representatives for the East Flanders constituency.[3]
D'Haese has also served as the mayor of Aalst since 2013. In 2019, D'Haese became involved in a dispute with UNESCO after UNESCO threatened to remove the Aalst Carnival from its world list of cultural heritage due to what was seen as anti-Semitic imagery on a float at the carnival. D'Haese argued that the floats featured at the carnival were based on satire rather than racism; however, the float was condemned by fellow N-VA politician André Gantman, who is Jewish.[4] Unia, the Belgian independent arbitrator for matters concerning discrimination, found that no laws had been broken.[5] The incident led to widespread condemnation from multiple organizations, including the European Commission.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "Christoph d'Haese". 28 March 2014.
- ^ a b "Alle ogen zijn nu op d'Haese gericht".
- ^ Lievens, Rutger (2019-05-27). "Christoph D'Haese (N-VA): "Partijen die niet kritisch staan tegen religie, verliezen het meest"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ Moses, Claire (5 December 2019). "Anti-Semitic Imagery Could Cost Belgian Carnival Its UNESCO Status". The New York Times.
- ^ ADN (8 March 2019). "Unia: "Aalsterse carnavalsgroep heeft geen wetten overtreden met praalwagen"". hln.be.
- ^ "Aalst Jewish caricatures condemned by European Commission". The Brussels News. 5 March 2019.
 | This article about a Flemish politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
.svg){kind=small}  | This article about a mayor in Belgium is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |