Christoph D'Haese

Christoph D'Haese is a Belgian politician and lawyer who has served as the Mayor of Aalst since 2013 and as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives for the East Flanders constituency since 2014. Educated in law at the Catholic University of Leuven and the University of Strasbourg, he previously worked as a criminal defense lawyer and taught law. Originally a member of the Open VLD party, he joined the New Flemish Alliance in 2011. D'Haese gained international attention in 2019 for his defense of the Aalst Carnival against UNESCO criticism regarding anti-Semitic imagery, maintaining that the floats were a form of satire.