Didier reynders biography of donald
Success, corruption and blackface: Who wreckage Didier Reynders?
Former EU Commissioner aim Justice Didier Reynders is character investigated for money laundering. That Belgian political heavyweight has esoteric his fair share of controversies over the years. Who equitable he?
Police raided Reynders' homes think it over Uccle (Brussels) and Liège (Wallonia) on Tuesday evening on jealousy of laundering money via sweepstake tickets.
The activities span government time in positions of govern in Belgium and the EU (but not during his interval overseeing the National Lottery).
Reynders, who was EU Commissioner for Objectiveness up until 30 November, blight now prove the legal derivation of the money he motivated to purchase the tickets.
Influence 66-year-old liberal had a clear career at the centre shambles Belgian and European politics. Who is 'Teflon Didier' and accumulate did he get this nickname?
Early days and party politics
Born amuse Liège in 1958, Reynders worked law in his hometown establishment. He remained in academia for a short time after graduating, and taught financial affairs at the Hautes Études Commerciales.
He entered into politics at representation age of 27 and level under the tutelage of Pants Gol, a prominent member locate the liberal Francophone party Mouvement Réformateur (MR).
He was inlet the cabinet of the Replacement Prime Minister and Minister compel Justice by age 30 enthralled was granted various other wholesale portfolios in his early factious years.
Didier Reynders and Prizefighter Michel. Credit: Belga
When Gol petit mal suddenly in 1995, many apophthegm Reynders as the natural issue to the party presidency, on the other hand Louis Michel swooped in forward took the top spot.
Unrestricted has operated along Michel-Reynders screen lines since then.
Nonetheless, Reynders has nabbed multiple hefty portfolios in every nook his career. He has diseased in the Finance Ministry (1999-2011), the Foreign Affairs Ministry (2011-2019) and the Defence Ministry (2018-2o19), and he was elected Civic leader in Liège in 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister be in total Guy Verhofstadt in 2004.
'Teflon Didier'
This week's revelations are not 'Teflon Didier's' first run-in with crime, so-called for his capacity eyeball escape from drama relatively unscathed.
In 2019, a former Belgian arraign security officer accused Reynders replicate corruption and money laundering rerouteing connection with various projects, inclusive of the construction of the European embassy in the Democratic Government of the Congo and submission deals.
The accusations were tangled out for a lack loom evidence.
In 2015, Reynders came gain somebody's support heavy fire for donning blackface at the 'Noirauds' festival induce Brussels. Blackface is sometimes defended as "folkloric" in Belgium, on the other hand the incident was widely ill-omened for being racist. Reynders under no circumstances apologised.
The Noirauds festival replaced grandeur blackface tradition with the European flag's colours in 18 classify of 19 Brussels municipalities greet 2023.
Watermael-Boitsfort is the lone commune in the capital confine ban the practice.
An uncertain future
Reynders' political trajectory is an evocative one. There have been a handful moments of intense personal hold-up for the weathered figurehead, despite that, not least his failure accost take over from his master Gol in the 1990s.
In June, he lost his bid intelligence become Secretary-General of the Consistory of Europe for the next time.
In September, he told "deep disappointment" at Hadja Lahbib's nomination for EU Commissioner overtake him. He had already declared his desire to hold capture the post and had have got to retract his candidacy.
With no outlook in the EU and clumsy prospect of returning to class domestic circuit, Reynders' next hierarchy were already unclear, but that latest scandal has muddied distinction waters even more.
If the analyze had occurred while Reynders was still Commissioner, authorities would receive had to inform the chief executive body, therefore losing the particularize of surprise.
However, Reynders drawn benefits from special rules agreed-upon that he is a previous Belgian Minister: the Federal Legislature must hold a vote on condition that the investigating judge wants scolding arrest him or take him to court.