Belgian Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck has provoked a storm by arguing that some Belgians' collaboration with the Nazis should be forgotten.
Mr De Clerck said this week on the state-run television channel RTBF: "At a given point, one should act in an adult way and be ready to discuss the issue and even to forget it, because all this is past. This is necessary to restore a
society."
Facing criticism even from within his own party, Mr De Clerk later backtracked, saying he "regretted" the controversy due to what he called a "misinterpretation" of what he said on TV.
"It is not about forgetting or minimising the facts. We should, however, be able to give a proper interpretation of this past and raise the issue in a reasoned way," said Mr De Clerck.
