Millions of Congolese died under his rule, yet Louis Michel says: 'Leopold II was a hero with ambition' on Leopold II of Belgium

“The Belgians built the railways, schools and hospitals there and boosted economic growth. Whether Leopold II also turned Congo into a gigantic labor camp? Not really. At the time, that was just the way of doing things.”

“We are easily tempted to exaggerate when it comes to Congo. It is quite lewd and simple to now posthumously condemn Leopold II. I instinctively feel that he was a hero, a hero with ambition for a small country like Belgium.”

“Using the word genocide in Congo is absolutely unacceptable, nor appropriate! Colonization was not a silly undertaking. And yes, it was perhaps rather dominate, discovery and even acquire pure power. But at a certain point civilization did come.”

“Call Leopold II a great visionary? You can't do that. What happened there then is shameful. If we took into account the standards of the 21st century, there is a good chance that Leopold II should now have appeared before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”