Vlaams Belang

Vlaams Belang (English: Flemish Interest) is a Belgian political party. It supports Flemish independence and restricted immigration. The party characterizes its current party policies as those of a traditional conservative party; opponents and some observers see it as "far right."

History

Volksunie and Vlaams Blok

Main articles: Volksunie and Vlaams Blok

Like its predecessors, the Volksunie and Vlaams Blok, the Vlaams Belang is part of the diverse Flemish movement. When the Volkunie in the 1970s, under party president Hugo Schiltz attracted more progressive politicians, and accepted Belgian federalism, this did not sit well with the party's radical nationalist right wing, particularly after the party entered the coalition government of Leo Tindemans and in 1978 agreed upon the Egmont pact.

The radical wing created two new small parties, the Vlaams Nationale Partij (Flemish National Party, VNP), presided by Karel Dillen, and the Vlaamse Volkspartij (Flemish Popular Party, VVP) with the former VU senator Lode Claes. Both parties entered the 1978 general elections as a cartel under the name of Vlaams Blok. This resulted in one MP, Karel Dillen, being elected. Later, both parties effectively merged into the Vlaams Blok (English: Flemish Block).

The Vlaams Blok's main growth started in 1991, when it increased its number of members of parliament from 2 to 12, gaining 6.6 % of the vote. In 2003, the Vlaams Blok received 11.59% of the vote, with 18 MPs being elected.

Trial

In 2002, three organisations, that in practice were the core of the Vlaams Blok party, were brought to court by the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism and the Liga voor Mensenrechten for "incitement to hate and discrimination." The organisations were condemned by the Appeals Court of Ghent in April 2004 for the "repeated incitement to discrimination." An appeal by the party was thrown out by the High Court in November 2004..

Following this conviction, the Vlaams Blok party disbanded itself in 2004. The former Vlaams Blok party leadership and members consequently established the Vlaams Belang.

Vlaams Belang supporters, such as N-VA member and law professor Matthias Storme, see the trial in which the Vlaams Blok was condemned as a political trial. Some also claim that the Belgian establishment has changed the law for the purpose of this trial.

According to professor Lamine (KUL), a former VB member and main advisor of the party's legal team, the party for propaganda reasons purposely carried a weak defence, in order to lose the case : "For the party leaders, losing was much more interesting. Winning just wasn't an option." Lamine himself had earlier stated that the VB should have carried the trial to the European Court of Human Rights, but VB senator Joris Van Hauthem had already stated in 2005, that: "If we had gone to Strasbourg [ECHR] based on procedural arguments, we might have had a case. But Lamine already put in a private claim to overturn the Appeals Court verdict, on the basis of substantive arguments. If Vlaams Belang were to put forth a claim against the verdict as well, at Strasbourg, the Court will bundle both cases. Then we would lose the case for sure. Lamine has thus given us the final blow." Law professor Lamine denied this: "The party legal department's head doesn't know what he's doing."The judicial service of the Flemish Parliament noted that a procedure at the ECHR would not be able to overturn the Appeals Court conviction that condemnded the Vlaams Blok. Such procedure however could lead to a conviction of the Belgian state to pay damages.

Gerolf Annemans created instant controversy during the inauguration event of the new party by condemning the prosecutors and judges who presided over the case in the Supreme Court and courts of appeal: "The names of all main legal figures in this trial are forever engraved in this lawyer's memory; they are warned for the rest of their careers." Mr. Annemans claimed he was provoked to say this, because Marc Timperman, the Supreme Court public prosecutor, laughed at the Vlaams Blok lawyers during the decisive Supreme Court session the week before. Vlaams Belang also alleges that past ties between Timperman and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt are evidence that the trial of the Vlaams Blok was politically motivated.

Changes to the party platform have been made to allow it to comply with the law, and the motto of Vlaams Blok, Eigen volk eerst ("Own people first"), has been dropped, though it is still used by party leaders in meetings.

Elections

The Vlaams Belang has not taken part yet in any general election in Belgium. The next elections are the 2006 municipal elections. Vlaams Belang will enter the campaign on the theme of "Secure, Flemish, Liveable."

There are signs that the cordon sanitaire against the party may be breached in some communes. This, or an absolute majority in a council, may give the Vlaams Belang their first chance to participate in power. The focus of the attention goes to the country's largest municipality Antwerp, where Filip Dewinter is running for mayor, but most commentators expect a first rise to power would happen in one of the smaller cities, or in one of the districts of Antwerp.

Ideology and issues

Vlaams Belang advocates independence for Flanders and strict limitations on immigration. It is part of the militant wing of the Flemish movement and is a nationalist party.

Party platform

While the Vlaams Blok for its ideological frame referred to the French Nouvelle Droite or GRECE, the Vlaams Belang basic party program draws more from the different American conservative currents. The party's writers of the program refer first and foremost to the American Neoconservatives, with the American Enterprise Institute, as a source for inspiration. An equally important source of inspiration is the Heritage Foundation, which is a more tradional conservative think tank. Other references are Pat Buchanan and Tom Tancredo, well known American conservatives.

On drafting its 2005 economic manifesto, the party let itself be inspired by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, the anarcho-capitalist (libertarian) philosopher.

Some of the main points in the platform include:

• Independence for Flanders. One stated reason for this are the alleged financial transfers from Flanders towards Brussels and Wallonia (the other parts of Belgium) which Vlaams Belang considers to be unjustified. Vlaams Belang sees the accompanying high employment cost as very negative for Flanders’ competitiveness. The bilingual Brussels Region would for geographical reasons be included in that independent Flanders, though more than 80% of its inhabitants are now French-speaking.
• A closer co-operation between Flanders and The Netherlands, falling short of the federation with the Netherlands the former Vlaams Blok used to advocate. Vlaams Belang also wants to develop closer links with those areas in French Flanders where West Flemish used to be spoken.
• Abolition of administrative (translations on demand, bilingual road signs) and educational (teaching in French in primary schools) facilities for French-speakers in the six concerned border municipalities with Brussels, where Dutch is the official language. Within the framework of the actual legislation, as this education with reinforced study of the Dutch language is solely financed by the Flemish government, Vlaams Belang also wants them to have the full authority about the pedagogical and language inspection. In Vlaams Belang's view, these facilities would rather frenchify the Dutch-speakers instead of assimilating the French-speakers, and their practice would extend beyond the enacted law. French-speakers - who meanwhile represent the majority of the population in those municipalities - consider however that practices would conform to the law and that those facilities did not have assimilation as a purpose.
• Return of all economic immigrants who fail to "assimilate". Those immigrants who want political rights (the rights to vote, to get elected and to obtain a public job) should apply for naturalization and forsake their foreign nationality. This implies the repeal of the law granting under certain conditions the right to vote in municipal elections for non-EU foreigners. The "70 Steps Plan" of the former Vlaams Blok for the return of immigrants and their descendants was dropped.
• Opposition to the "islamisation of Europe", which Vlaams Belang views as a "frightening historical process".
• Blocking Turkey from joining the European Union.
• Reform of the European Union by advocating a small European government and more power devolved to the Regions, so that competition between regions would lead to lower taxes. Vlaams Belang opposes today's allegedly "undemocratic" European Union and refers to it as an upcoming unnecessary monster state.
• Full and unconditional amnesty for people convicted for collaboration with Nazi Germany after WWII. Vlaams Belang claims that many convicts were victims of excesses by the Belgian judiciary system against Flemish nationalists. It also states that it has "equal respect" for the suffering of all the victims during the years of war and the repression afterwards, regardless of whichever side they had sided with, or of whichever side the Belgian judiciary maintained that they had sided with. It states that all other European countries have already granted amnesty, and that the 1961 Belgian "Vermeylen" law is no general amnesty law such as in the Netherlands or France, it only possibly grants amnesty after expressing regret about the actions committed.
• After the Dutch and German model, extend the law of self-defense to the defense of home, shop and property.
• Increased child benefits, including provisions which allow one parent, if both employed, to remain at home for the benefit of education for their child or children. This is aimed at increasing the birth rate. Opponents see it as a measure to reinforce traditional male/female roles, and therefore as discriminatory against women.
• Opposition to the law enabling homosexual marriage, and opposition to the law proposal enabling adoption by homosexual couples.
• Abortion to be allowed only in the case of rape or for medical reasons. Vlaams Belang wants to take care of unexpected pregnancies by an elaborated attendance and a relaxation of the adoption and foster parents laws.
• Preservation of the current education system. The 2003 Pisa Report places it in general as best out of those it reviewed. Deeper analysis by the OECD however reveals that this is only true for native pupils. In the group of non-native pupils, the Flemish education system scores among the worst of systems reviewed, according to some revealing a structural discrimination against non-natives. Children of second generation foreigners even perform much worse than those of the first generation. The OECD largely attributes this difference to the fact that in Flanders 54% of the foreign pupils don’t speak Dutch at home and as a consequence don’t have a good command of the Dutch language. According to Vlaams Belang this lack of language skills is due to failing integration policies of the government and is aggravated because much foreigners search their bride abroad. The party nevertheless advocates the preservation of the current education system.
• Repeal of the anti-racism and anti-discrimination legislations on the grounds of free speech.
• Repeal the 2003 Belgian nuclear power exit by 2025 legislation. Vlaams Belang wants to revamp the existing nuclear power plants instead of building new ones in France, which would cost many times more.
• Free market economic policies, such as limiting government intervention. It also advocates a simplified tax system, the flat tax, combined for social purposes with a significant zero taxation threshold to exempt low incomes from taxation.
• Reform of the pension system based upon investment funds instead of the present redistribution system. Vlaams Belang underlines that the Belgian state pension system is currently performing the worst out of all Western European countries.
• Abolition of the Belgian trade unions' unique pay-counter function for unemployment benefits, to step up the trade unions' global interest in creating employment.

Cordon Sanitaire

Vlaams Belang is currently one of the largest Belgian parties, although other parties usually form alliances with their counterparts across the Flemish/Francophone divide (Christian-Democrats, Liberals, Socialists and Greens). Several polls carried out in 2005 and 2006 predict Vlaams Belang will be the largest party in the next election. It has been growing steadily since 1978, when its predecessor "Vlaams Blok" was formed. Nonetheless, it has no direct power due to the Cordon Sanitaire, a pact between the other Belgian parties that rejected Vlaams Blok from any governing coalition because the party's views were considered to be morally unsound. Vlaams Belang says that the platform now is on the right track, making the Cordon Sanitaire without reason. The party however would need to convince others to join a coalition because the Belgian political system is based on proportional representation.

After the regional elections in 2004, changes in the perception of the party by the population, as well as the growing strength of the party made it possible for the Vlaams Blok to be invited briefly for negotiations at the start of the formation of the regional government. In the runup towards the local elections of late 2006, there are signs that the cordon sanitaire may be breached in some municipalities.

Critics of the Cordon Sanitaire argue that it is undemocratic, or that it is not effective in fighting the Vlaams Belang. Indeed, several figures in the other major Flemish political parties question its viability, and many have participated in debates with VB politicians.

In an interview with the popular weekly Humo, Flemish PM Yves Leterme (CD&V) however declared that a local chapter of his party that would go with the Vlaams Belang, wouldn't be considered a part of the CD&V anymore.

Government subsidy

Vlaams Belang, and the former Vlaams Blok is a very divisive issue in Belgium, particularly in Flanders. One response to Vlaams Belang has been attempts to cut state funding for the party (see the Belgian "dry up" law). On the Flemish level, there is no political majority for such actions against other parties, as this approach is generally viewed as being counter-productive. Some (less in Flanders, more amongst Francophones) have a different opinion.

On May 18, 2006, the minority organization Kif Kif and MRAX (Movement against Racism, Antisemitism and Xenophobia), backed (as demanded by law) by the political parties sp.a, spirit, PS, MR and CDh (the parties also paid for the legal translation of the complaint ), filed a complaint against Vlaams Belang with the Belgian Council of State. This court has six months to decide whether or not to cancel part of the state funding (dotation) the party receives, up to 2.1 million Euros yearly. The complaint claims that the Vlaams Belang party is "opposed to the rights granted in the European Convention on Human Rights". It refers to the utterance of Filip Dewinter calling his party "islamophobic" in a Jewish newspaper." The plaintiffs also state that "the party, for all intent and purpose, still uses the same platform and communication as the Vlaams Blok", that was condemned after a similar complaint. The complaint had been prepared for several months, and some of the complaining political parties had been hesitant to file it.

Issues

Some members, such as Roeland Raes have been accused of being Nazi sympathizers. Roeland Raes was charged with negationism in accordance with the Belgian Negationism Law, specifically for uttering the following controversial sentence: “whether it was planned that they should all die during the war is another question”. During the interview, Raes however had no doubts about the systematic persecution and deportation of the Jews by the nazis. The original complaint goes back to 2001. In the meanwhile, the master video tape with the full interview, was lost. Early 2006, at the Public Prosecutor’s request and after a hearing in chambers, the charges were dropped, but after an appeal by the Forum of Jewish Organisations, the case was resumed.

A December 2005 interview by Vlaams Belang frontman Filip Dewinter with the American-Jewish newsweekly The Jewish Week included a question if "Jews should vote for a party that espouses xenophobia". Dewinter responded by saying: "Xenophobia is not the word I would use. If it absolutely must be a ‘phobia,’ let it be ‘Islamophobia.’"

The late Dutch right wing politician Pim Fortuyn defended Filip Dewinter, one of Vlaams Belang's leaders, when the latter was molested in Amsterdam before and during the recordings of a television program. Fortuyn criticized that Dewinter was depicted as a "fascist" by the Dutch television. But in an interview with Bart Willems and Kees-Jan Dijkstra of the Flemish newspaper De Morgen, published two days before Fortuyn died, he called Filip Dewinter a "fascist".

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is known to be a liberal political 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, Hirsi Ali had been misinformed. The party considered this to be part of a smear campaign. Vlaams Belang underlined that Hirsi Ali supposedly did 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 Hirsi Ali.

On 31 May 2006 former chief of police Bart Debie was sent to criminal court. Mr. Debie is now a security expert and parliamentary cooperator of the party, and will be the party's main candidate in the local elections of 2006 in the Borgerhout district. Debie is being prosecuted for "torturing suspects at a police station, breach of the 1981 law on racism and xenophobia and forgery of police reports," acts committed on several occasions between february 1999 and april 2003. Mr. Debie’s defence argues that he is the victim of a reckoning. Debie resigned his commission as chief of police after a preventive suspension for "blurring of moral standards" due to these allegations, and was consequently given his present party functions.

In July 2006, Tom Barman announced that on October 1, a week before the municipal elections, three free concerts against racism, named 0110, would be organised in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. Vlaams Belang sees this as a direct attack by the establishment, because the event is sponsored by the Belgian National Lottery. The Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens (SP.a) disapproved of the concerts. They also refer to the fact that the official website of the event specifically states that Flanders deserves better than extreme right and that Barman had already announced in 2005 that he was planning a concert against Vlaams Belang in October 2006. The party wrote an open letter to famous Flemish artists, such as Clouseau, Helmut Lotti, Will Tura, Johan Verminnen and Laura Lynn, who where announced to participate, asking not to do so. One Vlaams Belang council member has called upon the readers of his web log to start a "mail bombardment" to the concerned artists. Critics speak of an intimidation campaign by the party.

Electorate

The Vlaams Belang party itself has not yet participated in elections.

A study of the 1999 general federal elections by researchers of the KUL yielded some results on the electorate of the Vlaams Blok.

The study showed that it was first and foremost the low educational level that was characteristic for the Vlaams Blok voter. There didn't seem to be a correlation, or a very small one, with age, gender nor occupation.

Another characteristic was the sector of employment. People working in sectors with a very large international competition were overrepresented within the V.B. electorate, while workers from the health and social sector -with no international competition at all- usually didn't vote for the party. Job insecurity did not seem to have an effect.

As a third characteristic, researchers found that the average V.B. voter had a low idea of their economic situation. It was not certain that this corresponded with their real situation. Ethnocentricity was a strong reason to vote V.B., as was the feeling of alienation towards politics. There did not seem to be a correlation between the social-economic attitude of a voter and his/her preference for the V.B.

Professor Carl Devos and Dries Verlet of the Political Science Department at the Ghent University see a number of characteristics that differentiate the Vlaams Belang voters from others. There are social demographic characteristics, like social economic status or level of education, and a number of personality traits or attitudes, like a more than average sympathy towards the traditional family values, law and order, or social hierarchy and authoritarianism.
Quite some V.B. voters share fear and uncertainty towards the present day Western European society. They see the expanding social and economic freedom and the diminishing influence of the state as a threatening phenomenon. They look towards far right parties hoping for a clear beacon and guidelines.

Party structure

Party organization

The Party Council is the highest organ of the Vlaams Belang party. It has about 80 members, among others the members of the Party Board, parliamentarians, local deputies and the youth organisation of the VB. The Party Council is responsible for choosing the party leader. The party executives throughout the party's organization then get to decide on the nomination. The Party Council is also responsible for fielding a candidate list at election time.

Members and staff

Party Administration

Gerolf Annemans, director study institute Jurgen Ceder Philip Claeys, editor VB magazine Bart Debie, security advisor Johan Demol Filip Dewinter, director organization Marijke Dillen

Karel Dillen, honorary chairman Francis Van den Eynde, director VVBM Joris Van Hauthem Marie-Rose Morel Luk Van Nieuwenhuysen, party vice-chairman Bert Schoofs Paul Belien, "The Flemish Republic"

Karim Van Overmeire Frank Vanhecke, party chairman Patsy Vatlet, party treasurer Anke Vandermeersch Wim Verreycken Hans Verreyt, chairman VBJ Luc Vermeulen, security chief

Other

• Rob Verreycken, former parliamentarian, party lawyer
• John Spinnewyn
• Roeland Raes, chapter leader of Lovendegem, member of the party board District Gent-Eeklo and as a former senator member of the national party council.

Representation

Vlaams Belang members in the European Parliament

• Philip Claeys, floor leader
• Koen Dillen
• Frank Vanhecke

Vlaams Belang members in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives

Gerolf Annemans, floor leader Marleen Beckers-Govaerts Koen Bultinck Nancy Caslo Alexandra Colen Guy D'Haeseleer

Filip De Man Ortwin Depoortere Hagen Goyvaerts Bart Laeremans Jan Mortelmans Staf Neel

Bert Schoofs Luc Sevenhans Guido Tastenhoye Jaak Van Den Broeck Francis Van Den Eynde Frieda Van Themsche

Vlaams Belang members in the Belgian Senate

Yves Buysse Jurgen Ceder Frank Creyleman Nele Jansegers Anke Vandermeersch Joris Van Hauthem, floor leader

Karim Van Overmeire Wim Verreycken

Vlaams Belang members in the Flemish Parliament

Filip Dewinter, floor leader Erik Arckens Thieu Boutsen Agnes Bruyninckx Hilde De Lobel Herman De Reuse Johan Deckmyn Marijke Dillen Pieter Huybrechts Werner Marginet Katleen Martens

An Michiels Monique Moens Marie-Rose Morel Jan Penris Stefaan Sintobin Felix Strackx Erik Tack Marleen Van den Eynde Wim Van Dijck Freddy Van Gaever Roland Van Goethem

Joris Van Hauthem Greet Van Linter Luk Van Nieuwenhuysen Karim Van Overmeire Gerda Van Steenberge Christian Verougstraete Jurgen Verstrepen Linda Vissers John Vrancken Frans Wymeersch

Vlaams Belang members in the Brussels Parliament

• Johan Demol
• Frederic Erens
• Dominiek Lootens-Stael
• Eric Lapointe
• Valérie Seyns
• Jos Van Assche

External links

• Official web page
• Official Vlaams Belang party manifesto
• Today we were executed. But we will rise: message by Vanhecke, VB's president, November 09, 2004
• Vdare.com: Anti-Immigration Party Banned In Belgium November 09, 2004
• Blokwatch Newssite by opponents to Vlaams Belang

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
• The Washington Times: Analysis: Makeover for Flemish far-right November 15, 2004
• The Washington Times: The emerging ‘Eurabia’ February 18, 2005
• 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 (discussed at American Renaissance [1] )