The Belgian Environment Minister from the nation’s Flanders region resigned from her post on Tuesday after sparking outrage by accusing students holding weekly climate strikes in Brussels and other cities of being puppets in an orchestrated plot.

In addition to denigrating the motivations behind the protests, Joke Schauvliege claimed she was given intelligence from security officials that the demonstrations over the last five weeks—and attended by tens of thousands of students and others—were not “spontaneous actions” but something more nefarious.

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“The minister’s allegation is an insult to the authentic engagement of so many young people.” —Youth for Climate”I know who is behind this movement, both of the Sunday demonstrations and the truants,” Schauvliege said last month, referring to the tens of thousands of students who have walked out of their classrooms to demand that their leaders rapidly shift away from fossil fuel-based energy to combat the climate crisis.

“I have also been told that from state security,” she added. “I can guarantee that I do not see ghosts alone.”

However, Schauvliege was forced to admit Tuesday that her claim was false after Belgian security authorities told the press that “We have not reported anything” to the minister about a plot by students to do anything other than gather legally and demand action from their elected representatives.

The climate debate, Schauvliege tweeted Tuesday as she announced her resignation, “must not revolve around me as a person, and that is why I take a step that should bring back serenity and reasonableness.”

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