Dries Van Langenhove
Dries Van Langenhove | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Chamber of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 20 June 2019 | |
| Constituency | Flemish Brabant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dries Van Langenhove 11 May 1993 Dendermonde, Belgium |
| Political party | Vlaams Belang[a] |
| Alma mater | Ghent University |
Dries Van Langenhove (born 11 May 1993) is a Belgian politician, blogger, and activist. He has been the founder and leader of the right-wing, Flemish nationalist youth organization Schild & Vrienden since 2017. In 2019, he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives on the Vlaams Belang ticket despite not being a registered member of the party.
Early life
Van Langenhove was born in Dendermonde and grew up in Opwijk. He initially began training as a plumber but later began studying law at Ghent University.[1][2]
Politics
Van Langenhove was active in the Conservative and Flemish nationalist student fraternity Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond. When a lecture by State Secretary Theo Francken at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel was cancelled in 2017 after left-wing protesters disrupted the event, Van Langenhove mobilized supporters from an internet group to organize further Francken events.[3] Until August 2017 he wrote about migration and integration for the conservative website SCEPTR .[4] Along with Vlaams Belang Jongeren and the NSV he helped to organise a demonstration in Brussels against the UN Global Compact on Migration. In 2018, he also led a counter-demonstration alongside YouTube commentator Lauren Southern against pro-immigration activists at Gravensteen castle. In 2019, Van Langenhove announced he was to stand as an independent MP for the Chamber of Representatives in the 2019 Federal election, and it was later confirmed by Tom Van Grieken that he would run for the Vlaams Belang party (despite not being a full member) and head the VB's list in the Flemish Brabant region. He was elected to the Chamber with 39,295 preference votes.[5][6]
Controversy
In 2017, Van Langenhove set up a youth movement called Shield & Friends which participated in a number of political demonstrations. An investigation by Belgian TV show Pano and journalist Tim Verheyden found that members of the group were sharing racist, antisemitic and sexist content and memes on secret Facebook and Discord groups. In these groups Verheyden also encountered posts promoting violence as well as references to Nazi Germany.[7] The group was also investigated under potential breaches of the 1981 anti-racism law.[8] As a result of the investigation Van Langenhove, who denied involvement in sharing content in any of the groups, was temporarily suspended as a student by the university of Ghent.[1]
On the twenty first of January 2021 the public prosecutor's office asked partliament to lift the parliamentary immunity of Van Langenhove because of an investigation into breaching of the anti-racism law, the Belgian Holocaust denial law and weapon law.[9] This is a result of an investigation around Van Langenhove that started during the Pano documentary.
Notes
- ^ Affiliated non-member
References
- ^ a b "Dries Van Langenhove wil zitje in Raad van Bestuur UGent terug". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Dries Bervoet (7 January 2018). "De val van een selfmade rechtse apostel". De Tijd. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Jurgen Ceder (11 October 2017). "Praten met Dries Van Langenhove van Schild & Vriendinnen. "Aanstekelijk enthousiasme mag niet verloren gaan."". 't Pallieterke. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Posts van Dries Van Langenhove (gearchiveerd)". SCEPTR. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Tobias Santens (26 May 2019). "Vlaams Belang grote winnaar van de verkiezingen, partij wordt tweede in Vlaanderen". Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ Stefan Grommen (9 January 2019). "Dries Van Langenhove van uiterst rechts Schild & Vriendinnen wordt lijsttrekker voor Vlaams Belang". VRT NWS. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ An Schoonjans (10 January 2019). "Persbericht - Gent - Onderzoek Schild & Vrienden". Parket Oost-Vlaanderen. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "Dries Van Langenhove in verdenking gesteld wegens inbreuken op antiracismewet". De Standaard. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Parket-generaal vraagt opheffing onschendbaarheid Dries Van Langenhove". Het Belang Van Limburg. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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