Rick Nieman attacks Frans Timmermans live on television because he flew to Málaga for one day of the conference of European left-wing parties. “Is that worth the CO2?!”
Frans Timmermans is on a roll as the great leader on the left: millionaires must be put to the financial slaughter, everyone must have two windmills in their garden and Schiphol is only allowed to open on Sundays. So to speak, then. Rick Nieman, the presenter of WNL on Sunday, finds it strange that he himself has one frequent flyer is.
Flying up and down
It bothers Rick that Frans flew back and forth to Málaga for one day. “Don’t you get a lot of grumbling from your GroenLinks supporters about flying back and forth for one day? Flying is really banned, even in your own program. ‘Flying is not allowed, flying is bad for the environment.’”
Due to the purpose of the trip, such a flight is a justifiable trip, Frans believes. “Well, look, this was a really important meeting,” he says about the congress of left-wing leaders. “Again, our societies are all under pressure and we all need to make sure we keep it together.”
A little CO2
Rick responds cynically to this. “Was that little bit of CO2 worth it?”
Kamran Ullah, editor-in-chief of De Telegraaf, also raises a number of questions. “I always have the feeling that you miss the international stage. You were with Olaf Scholz in Berlin last week, now back in Malaga, while you can also call those people, right? Then you don’t have to fly up and down, do you?”
Frans: “But you don’t always get all those people together and that was a unique moment. The Prime Minister of Denmark was also there and the Prime Minister of Malta.”
Fly less
It’s hypocritical, Kamran thinks. “Voters will say: we should fly less, even give up a holiday because it is so bad for the environment and the leader of GroenLinks and PvdA just flies up and down.”
Frans talks around it: “A lot of social security has to do with income and look at the plans we present! No one is improving more than us.”
Finally, does Frans have any other nice news? “I won’t be able to keep my eyes off the screen for the next week!”
Fragment
The fragment in WNL on Sunday: