Thousands attend funeral of former Belgian PM Wilfried Martens

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Ghent on Saturday to attend the state funeral of former Belgian prime minister Wilfried Martens. Merkel was one of many Belgian and European leaders who took part in the funeral in Sint-Baaf’s Cathedral in honour of the Flemish statesman, who died on 9 October at age 77.

Several leaders spoke during the ceremony, including Merkel, who said that she had lost a “loyal ally and political friend”. She added that Martens had been a sort of “political father” of the centre-right European People’s Party and that his political ideals had defended freedom, tolerance and solidarity.

EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso described Martens as “truly a great statesman for Flanders, Belgium, and Europe”. He continued: “Europe has lost a man of strong convictions and solid values. He will be remembered as someone who brought people together to reach a consensus, both in his own country and in Europe.”

Belgian prime minister Elio di Rupo said that Martens was “a statesman who had made his mark on history.” He had also shown that it was possible to be a committed “Fleming, Belgian and European”.

Some 800 people attended the ceremony, including former prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and Flanders’ minister-president Kris Peeters, who spoke after Martens' death of the profound influence Martens had on him as a young politician in the CD&V. “Without his work, I wouldn’t be sitting here as minister-president,” he told VTM news last weekend.

Outside Sint-Baaf’s cathedral, meanwhile, a large crowd gathered to follow Martens’ funeral on a big screen. It was also broadcast live on Flemish television. After the funeral, the coffin was taken to be buried in a private ceremony attended by family members at Campo Santo cemetery in the Sint-Amandsberg district of Ghent.