Vlaams Belang

Flemish Interest Vlaams Belang
151px
Leader	Tom Van Grieken
Founded	14 November 2004
Preceded by	Vlaams Blok
Headquarters	Madouplein 8 bus 9 1210 Brussels
Youth wing	Vlaams Belang Jongeren
Membership  (2014)	17,255
Ideology	Right-wing populism Flemish nationalism Euroscepticism Separatism Conservatism
Political position	Far-right
European affiliation	Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom
European Parliament group	Europe of Nations and Freedom
Colours	Yellow, Black
Chamber of Representatives (Flemish seats)	3 / 87
Senate (Flemish seats)	2 / 35
Flemish Parliament	6 / 124
Brussels Parliament (Flemish seats)	1 / 17
European Parliament (Flemish seats)	1 / 12
Flemish Provincial Councils	29 / 351
Website
www.vlaamsbelang.org
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections

Vlaams Belang (VB; Dutch for "Flemish Interest") is a right-wing populist and Flemish nationalist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels of Belgium.

Vlaams Belang originated from Vlaams Blok, which adopted its new name and changed some controversial parts of its statute after a trial in 2004 condemned the party for racism. It has since sought to change its image from a radical to a more conservative party, and has distanced itself from some of its former programs. Most other parties have continued the cordon sanitaire which was originally agreed on against the former party, effectively blocking the Vlaams Belang from any executive power, and attempts on cutting public subsidies specifically for the party were made through the Belgian draining law.

History

Background, Vlaams Blok

Main article: Vlaams Blok

The direct predecessor of the Vlaams Belang was the Vlaams Blok, which was formed by the nationalist right-wing of the People's Union which had broken out in the late 1970s. The ideology of the Vlaams Blok started out with its radical nationalist rejection of the People's Union compromise on the Flemish autonomy issue, and later increasingly focused on immigration and security, exploitation of political scandals, and defense of traditional values. The immigration positions of the Vlaams Blok was subject to much controversy, and the party was forced to disband in 2004 after a political trial ruled that it sanctioned discrimination. By then, the party was the most popular Flemish party, supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate, and was one of the most successful parties considered to be right-wing populist in Europe as a whole.

In Belgium in 2001, Roeland Raes, the ideologue and vice-president of Vlaams Blok, gave an interview on Dutch TV where he cast doubt over the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In the same interview he questioned the scale of the Nazis' use of gas chambers and the authenticity of Anne Frank's diary. In response to the media assault following the interview, Raes was forced to resign his position but vowed to remain active within the party.

Upon complaints filed by the governmental Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism and the Dutch-speaking Human Rights League in Belgium, in 2001 three non-profit organisations that in effect constituted the core of the Vlaams Blok party were charged with violation of the Law on Racism and Xenophobia by assisting "a group or organisation that clearly and repeatedly commits discrimitation or segregation," here the political party. By April 2004, the Appellate Court of Ghent came to a final verdict, forbidding their and the party's continued existence for its "repeated incitement to discrimination." In November that year, the Court of Cassation rejected their last appeal to annul the verdict; the delay had allowed using the name Vlaams Blok for election candidacy.

Vlaams Belang (2004–present)

After the Supreme Court ruling, the leadership of the VB seized the occasion to dissolve itself, and start afresh under a new name. On 14 November, the Vlaams Blok thus disbanded itself, and the Vlaams Belang was established. The Vlaams Belang instituted a number of changes in its political program, carefully moderating some of the more radical positions of the former Vlaams Blok. Nevertheless, the party leader Frank Vanhecke made it clear that the party would fundamentally remain the same; "We change our name, but not our tricks. We change our name, but not our programme."

Former Vlaams Blok chairman Frank Vanhecke was chosen as chairman of the Vlaams Belang on 12 December 2004. Like its predecessor, the Vlaams Belang has continued to be subjected to the cordon sanitaire, wherein all the traditional Flemish parties has agreed to systematically exclude the party, and never form a coalition with it. This situation was however altered slightly with the emergence of the smaller right-wing party List Dedecker (founded in 2007), which has not joined in on the agreement. In an interview with the popular weekly Humo, Flemish Prime Minister Yves Leterme for instance declared that a local chapter of his Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V) that would form a coalition or close agreements with the Vlaams Belang, would no longer be considered part of the CD&V.

The VB contested the 2006 municipal elections on the theme of "Secure, Flemish, Liveable". The VB enjoyed a massive increase of votes, and its council members almost doubled, from 439 to about 800. The election result was described by the party as a "landslide victory." In Antwerp, the VB's vote count ran behind that of the Socialist Party, which increased their share of the vote dramatically. Nevertheless, the VB, which was in a coalition with the minor VLOTT party, slightly increased their vote in the city to 33.5%. In the 2007 general election, the party won 17 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and five seats in the Senate, remaining more or less at status quo. Earlier the same year, the party joined the short-lived European Parliament group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty alongside parties such as the French National Front.

In 2008, Bruno Valkeniers was chosen as new party chairman for the VB, having contested the position unopposed. In 2009, the party contested elections for the Flemish Parliament and the European Parliament. The party was reduced from 32 to 21 seats (from the Vlaams Blok's record 24%, to 15%) in the Flemish parliament, and from three to two seats in the European parliament. In the 2010 general election, the party was again reduced, to 12 seats in the Chamber, and three in the Senate. This was largely due to the great success of the more moderate new party New Flemish Alliance, which also campaigned on Flemish independence.

Ideology

The policies of the Vlaams Belang focus mainly on the issues of Flemish independence, opposition to multiculturalism, and defence of traditional Western values.

Flemish nationalism

The VB's main goal is to establish an independent Flemish republic. The party seeks a peaceful secession of Flanders from Belgium, citing in its program the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway (1905), Czechoslovakia (1992), and the independence of Montenegro (2006) as examples that such would be possible. The reason to seek independence is given as the "enormous cultural and political differences between Flemings and Walloons," and according to the party, Belgian governments are also "paralyzed by ongoing disputes between Flemish and Walloon politicians." Other stated reasons for this are the financial transfers from Flanders to the capital of Brussels and to Wallonia (Belgium's other half), which Vlaams Belang considers to be unjustified.

Immigration and minorities

The Vlaams Belang official immigration policy has been slightly moderated from that of the former Vlaams Blok. In its new program, the party simply call for the repatriation of those immigrants who "reject, deny or combat" Flemish culture as well as certain European values, including freedom of expression and equality between men and women. Filip Dewinter has stated that women wearing the hijab have "effectively signed their contract for deportation."

The former Vlaams Blok was according to political scientist Cas Mudde only very rarely accused of anti-Semitism – and even then, it was strongly condemned by the party leadership. The party is anti-Muslim, and currently sees itself as strongly pro-Jewish, regarding Jews and Israelis as allies against radical Islam. In Antwerp, sections of the city's large Jewish community actively support the party, as they feel threatened by the new wave of anti-Semitism from the growing Muslim population. In 2010, the party was part of a delegation to Israel (along with some other rightist parties), where they issued the "Jerusalem Declaration," which defended the right of Israel to exist and defend itself against terrorism. Israeli Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara in turn visited the party in Antwerp in 2011. In March 2014, a party mission to the West Bank headed by Dewinter met with Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Ofir Akunis.

Law and order

In order to secure Flemish cities, the party wants to implement a policy of zero tolerance. It supports the abolition of the Belgian parole law, which allows convicts to be released after only one third of their prison sentence has been served. The party also oppose drug liberalization. Citing "a massive overrepresentation of immigrants in crime statistics," the party also wants to deport criminal and illegal foreigners, as well as seeking to "combat Islamic terror threat."

Economy

The party's economic policy has been changed significantly from the Vlaams Blok. While the Vlaams Blok called for a rather mixed economy, the Vlaams Belang has moved towards a more neoliberal economic model.

External views

Politicians, like prime minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD), Karel De Gucht (VLD) and the late Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn have called the Vlaams Belang or its leaders "fascist". However, history professor Eric Defoort has stated the use of this terminology creates "a distorted image of their antagonist, whom they can then scold with missionary zeal."

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prominent critic of Islam in the Netherlands, and to whom Vlaams Belang on different occasions referred to defend its points of view on Islam, called the party "a racist, anti-Semitic, extremist party that is unkind to women and that should be outlawed." According to Vlaams Belang, Ali had been misinformed. The party considered this to be part of a smear campaign. Vlaams Belang underlined that Ali supposedly made the statement on the occasion of a debate organised by the left-liberal think tank Liberales, whose president is Dirk Verhofstadt. Vlaams Belang added that Dirk Verhofstadt is known for regularly publishing accusations against the party. Vlaams Belang also wrote an open letter to Ali.

International relations

In the European Parliament, the party has generally been part of the Non-Inscrits. In 2007, the party was however part of the short-lived European Parliament group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty alongside parties such as the French National Front. The party has also had some contacts with the Freedom Party of Austria, the Italian Northern League, the Danish People's Party, the Slovak National Party, the German Freedom Party and the Sweden Democrats.

In the eighth European Parliament, the party sits with the National Front, the Northern League, the Freedom Party of Austria, the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Polish Congress of the New Right and a former member of the UK Independence Party in the Europe of Nations and Freedom parliamentary group.

Outside the EU, it has ties to the Israeli Likud, the Swiss People's Party, the U.S. Republican Party, the Syrian Ba'ath Party and United Russia.

Party chairmen

• 2004−2008: Frank Vanhecke
• 2008−2012: Bruno Valkeniers
• 2012−2014: Gerolf Annemans
• 2014−present: Tom Van Grieken

Electoral results

Note that the results also include those of the former Vlaams Blok.

Federal Parliament

Chamber of Representatives

The main six Flemish political parties and their results for the Chamber of Representatives. From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'.

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/-	Notes
1981	66,422	1.1		1 / 212
1985	85,391	1.4		1 / 212		0
1987	116,534	1.9		2 / 212		1
1991	405,247	6.6		12 / 212		10
1995	475,677	7.8		11 / 150		1
1999	613,399	9.9		15 / 150		4
2003	767,605	11.6		18 / 150	18 / 88	3
2007	799,844	12.0		17 / 150	17 / 88	1
2010	506,697	7.8		12 / 150	12 / 88	5
2014	247,746	3.67		3 / 150	3 / 88	9

Senate

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/-	Notes
1985	90,120	1.5		0 / 70
1987	122,953	2.0		1 / 70		1
1991	414,481	6.8		5 / 70		4
1995	463,896	7.7		3 / 40	3 / 25	2
1999	583,208	9.4		4 / 40	4 / 25	1
2003	741,940	11.3		5 / 40	5 / 25	1
2007	787,782	11.9		5 / 40	5 / 25	0
2010	491,519	7.6		3 / 40	3 / 25	2

Regional parliaments

Brussels Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/-	Notes
1989	9,006	2.1 (#11)		1 / 75
1995	12,507	3.0		2 / 75		1
1999	19,310	4.5	31.9 (#1)	4 / 75		2
2004	21,297		34.1 (#1)	6 / 89	6 / 17	2
2009	9,072		17.5 (#3)	3 / 89	3 / 17	3

Flemish Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/-
1995	465,239	12.3 (#4)		15 / 124
1999	603,345	15.5 (#3)		20 / 124		5
2004	981,587	24.2 (#1)		32 / 124		12
2009	628,564	15.28 (#2)		21 / 124		11
2014	232,813	5.98		6 / 124		15

European Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of electoral college vote	# of overall seats won	# of electoral college seats won	+/-	Notes
1984	73,174	1.3	2.1 (#6)	0 / 24	0 / 13
1989	241,117	4.1	6.6 (#6)	1 / 24	1 / 13	1
1994	463,919	7.8	12.6 (#4)	2 / 25	2 / 14	1
1999	584,392	9.4	15.1 (#3)	2 / 25	2 / 14	0
2004	930,731	14.3	23.2 (#2)	3 / 24	3 / 14	1
2009	647,170	9.9	15.9 (#3)	2 / 22	2 / 13	1
2014	284,891	4.26	6.76 (#6)	1 / 21	1 / 12	1

External links

• Official web page (English)
• Official Vlaams Belang party manifesto
• Today we were executed. But we will rise: message by Vanhecke, VB's president, November 9, 2004
• Vdare.com: Anti-Immigration Party Banned In Belgium November 9, 2004
• La face cachee du Vlaams Blok (The Hidden Face of the Vlaams Blok): RTBF documentary about the Vlaams Blok made in 2004

News articles

• BBC News: Blow to Belgium's far right 9 November 2004
• The Telegraph: Flemish party banned as racist by Belgium's high court 10 November 2004.
• TIME: Life On The Front Lines: In Antwerp, the far right is facing off against muslims. Who's winning? Vol.165 No.9 | February 28, 2005.
• Haaretz: Between Haider and a Hard Place - Wednesday 31 August 2005