Vlaams Blok
Encyclopedia
The Vlaams Blok was a Belgian
far-right and secession
ist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism
, calling for the independence of Flanders
. From its creation in 1978, it was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement. Vlaams Blok's track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliament elections was strong. The election campaigns consisted mainly of the immigration and law-and-order theme, combined with the desire for Flemish autonomy.
All significant Flemish political parties were reluctant to enter coalitions with the Vlaams Blok. Following a 1989 agreement, known as the cordon sanitaire
, the party was effectively blocked from entering any level of government. The Court of Appeal
in Ghent
in April 2004 ruled that some of the party's organizations had breached the 1981 anti-racism law
and that the party sanctioned discrimination. The ruling was made definite on 9 November 2004, and the party shortly after reorganised itself as the Vlaams Belang
. By 2004, the party had arguably become the single most popular Flemish party in Belgium, supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate, as well as being one of the most successful radical right-wing populist parties in Europe as a whole.
, which historically has included an array of organisations seeking, to varying degrees, to promote Flanders
. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Flemish nationalists operated within the established political parties, and had close ties with the political left. The early organised political expression of Flemish nationalism was triggered by World War I
, and the introduction of universal suffrage
and proportional representation
in elections. The main party that initially represented the movement was the left-wing nationalist Front Party
, founded by former soldiers and sympathizers from the trench wars
in Flanders Fields
disaffected with their French-speaking, often anti-Flemish, officers that had been unable to communicate with their troops. From the 1930s, the main party became the Flemish National Union
which turned to collaborate with the Nazis during World War II
, as they had promised them increased Flemish autonomy. These circumstances would compromise the re-emergence of Flemish nationalism after the war, although only a faction of the broader movement had actually pursued an agenda of collaboration.
The direct predecessor to the Vlaams Blok was the People's Union
, which was founded in 1954 as the successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union electoral alliance, that had successfully run for election earlier the same year
. The party had been careful to choose its leaders from nationalist circles that had not collaborated with the Nazis. While Flemish separatists had been suspicious of the People's Union since its outset, it became clear by the 1970s that the party had moved to a moderate left-liberal course, which led to the defection of its more radical members. The remaining nationalist hardliners finally rejected the party's participation in a new five-party government coalition in 1977, and particularly the Egmont pact
, believing it had conceded too much to the francophone government parties.
In late 1977, the rejection of the Egmont pact by the hardliner faction of the People's Union led to the establishment of two new (short-lived) parties; the radical nationalist Flemish National Party (VNP) and the national liberal Flemish People's Party (VVP), respectively led by Karel Dillen
and Lode Claes. The parties contested the 1978 general elections
in a coalition called "Vlaams Blok", where they won 1.4% of the vote and one seat in the Chamber of Representatives (taken by Dillen). On 28 May 1979, the VNP and VVP finally merged to form a new party named Vlaams Blok, and Dillen was nominated to be the party's leader for life. The party initially recruited its members from Flemish nationalist organisations, such as the Taal Aktie Komitee, Voorpost
, Were Di, and the Order of Flemish Militants, while some local groups also simply turned into local branches of the Vlaams Blok. In its inception, the party was widely regarded as a conservative separatist party, rather than an extreme right-wing party.
The party did not have much electoral success at first, and was stable at one seat in the 1981 general elections
. It stood candidates in very few communities, and was active almost entirely in the city of Antwerp. Having been founded mainly as a protest against the Egmont pact, the party revamped and broadened its platform after the pact collapsed. It did not make much progress in the 1985 general elections
, and Dillen thus started the so-called "Operation Rejuvenation", allowing for an across-the-board change of the party leadership, integrating many leaders of nationalist youth and student organisations into the party council. The party's youth organisation, the Vlaams Blok Jongeren (VBJ), was founded in 1987 by among others Filip Dewinter
and Frank Vanhecke
.
Starting in 1983, the Vlaams Blok increasingly began focusing on immigration (inspired by the success of other European right-wing populist parties), and on the international day against racism in 1984 held its first conference to discuss the "foreigner problem." The same year, Dillen proposed a bill in the Chamber of Representatives to offer cash incentive for immigrants to return to their native country. In April 1987, a group around Roger Frankinouille of the only right-wing competitor to the Vlaams Blok, the anti-tax Respect for Labour and Democracy, switched to the party. The party campaigned for the 1987 general election
with the slogan "Own people first" (Eigen volk eerst!, inspired by French National Front slogan "The French first"), and saw a slight victory, winning their first seat in Senate (taken by Dillen), and for the first time two seats in the Chamber (Dewinter and Annemans
). The party's shift towards focusing on immigration was however criticised by some Vlaams Blok members, and ultimately also led to the defection of some top party figures. The party nevertheless made a clear choice of focussing on the immigration issue, which had, and would, give results in elections.
issue. In the 1988 local election in Antwerp the party first started to take off, going from 5.5% of the vote in the city to 17.7%, a success which drew much publicity. On 10 May 1989, based on the Antwerp success, the presidents of all major Belgian parties (including the People's Union) signed a cordon sanitaire
(hygienic barrier), where the parties agreed to never conclude any political agreements with the Vlaams Blok, nor make immigration a political issue. While the Vlaams Blok itself also largely rejected cooperation with other parties, it did increasingly consider such cooperation, particularly in elections in 1994, 1999 and 2000, only to find themselves effectively blocked by the cordon sanitaire. Although intended to keep the Vlaams Blok from gaining political influence, many argued that the agreement in reality gave room for the strong electoral surge for the party, as it was made into what could be seen as the only "true opposition." The agreement was renewed in following years, and Vlaams Blok chairman Karel Dillen was used to call it the "insurance policy" of his party;
In December 1988, a major split occurred in the party, when a group who opposed the "Operation Rejuvenation" tried to squeeze the Dewinter-VBJ faction out of the party leadership. Led by Geert Wouters, he accused Dewinter's faction of being "Lepenists
", and of attempting to sideline the Flemish question to rather favour the immigration question. Dillen however sided with Dewinter, and Wouters and his group left the party and founded the nationalist pressure group called the Nationalist Association-Dutch People’s Movement. In 1989, the party won a seat in the Brussels
city council, as well as in the European Parliament. There, the Vlaams Blok agreed to form a parliamentary group together with the French National Front and the German The Republicans, called the Technical Group of the European Right
. The group lacked an ideological coherence (stemming in part from Le Pen's support for a Belgian state nationalism), and was largely organised on pragmatic grounds simply to get financial support.
In the 1991 general election, the Vlaams Blok for the first time surpassed the People's Union, going from two to 12 seats in the Chamber, and from one to five seats in the Senate, in what was afterwards referred to by its opponents as "Black Sunday". In the following years, the party saw a systematic upwards trend in all elections it participated in. In July 1992, the first Vlaams Blok motion was accepted in the Flemish Parliament, which rejected the right of francophone inhabitants in Flemish Brabant
and Voeren to vote for Wallon institutions. In late 1992, it was announced that Staf Neel, a popular Antwerp city councillor for 22 years for the Socialist Party went over to the Vlaams Blok, thereby causing the SP and CVP to lose their majority in the city council. In 1992, the party ideologue Filip Dewinter
and chairman Karel Dillen established the party's comprehensive immigration program, titled the 70-point plan. The plan sought to close the borders towards non-European immigrants, gradually repatriate those already in the country, and implement an "own people first" principle in all policy areas. Over the course of the 1990s, the party however increasingly distanced itself from the plan as it had alienated the party from gaining political influence, until it was finally officially discarded in 2000.
In the 1994 European election, the party doubled its seats (Dillen and Vanhecke) with 12.6% of the vote, but failed to continue a European Right group, due to other nationalist parties having dropped out of the parliament, or refusing to join a group. National Front and Vlaams Blok MEPs nevertheless established an "alliance" called The Coordination of the European Right. In 1996, party leader Karel Dillen, who had been nominated to hold his position for life, stepped down and personally appointed Frank Vanhecke
as his successor. The choice of Vanhecke was seen a compromise between the Flemish nationalist wing around Annemans and the Lepenist wing around Dewinter, thus avoiding a potential internal struggle. In 1999, elections were scheduled for the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives and Senate
and the Flemish Parliament, where the Vlaams Blok overtook the position as the third largest Flemish party, winning more than 15% of the vote in all elections, and a total of 45 seats in the various parliaments.
The Vlaams Blok continued to be particularly strong in and around Antwerp, where it received as much as 33% of the vote in the 2000 local elections. In 2001, the party was forced to alter its political program, as according to the laws for party financing, it was not compatible with the European Treaty on Human Rights. In the 2004 Flemish Parliament election, the party finally became the single largest party group in parliament. The party was invited by the formateur
for government discussions, only to find that its differences with the other parties was insurmountable, resulting in the three traditional parties forming a majority government, retaining the cordon sanitaire. By this time, the party had nevertheless become the very most popular Flemish party in Belgium, being supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate.
, together with the Dutch-speaking Human Rights League in Belgium
registered a complaint at the Correctional Court, in which they claimed that three non-profit organisations connected to the Vlaams Blok (its education and research office and the "National Broadcasting Corporation") had violated the 1981 anti-racism law
. The publications which were referred to included its 1999 election agenda and 1997 party platform. The challenged passages included those where the party called for a separate education system for foreign children, a special tax for employers employing non-European foreigners, and a restriction of unemployment benefits and child allowances for non-European foreigners.
In June 2001, the Brussels Correctional Court declared itself incompetent to hear the case, as it related to political misconduct. In February 2003, the Brussels Appellate Court followed and gave a similar judgement. The original plaintiffs then appealed, and the case was sent to the Court of Appeals in Ghent
, which upheld the complaint; the Vlaams Blok non-profit organisations were fined, and it was deemed that the Vlaams Blok was an organisation that sanctioned discrimination. The Vlaams Blok lodged an appeal which was rejected, and in November 2004, the ruling was made definite, when it was upheld by the Court of Cassation
. The ruling meant that the party would lose access to state funding and access to television, effectively shutting the party down.
. The federal parliament had notably amended the Constitution in order to create legal possibilities to condemn the party. The Vlaams Blok also pointed at the problem of political nomination of judges, and again claimed that the lawsuit had been a political process coordinated with the Belgian Ministry of the Interior.
The leadership of the Vlaams Blok seized the occasion of the ban to dissolve the party, and start afresh under a new name. Five days later, on 14 November, the Vlaams Blok disbanded itself, and a new party with the name Vlaams Belang
was established. (Other proposed names included the Flemish People's Party and Flemish Freedom Front.) The new party instituted a number of changes in its political program, carefully moderating some of the more extreme positions of the former Vlaams Blok. Nevertheless, the party leadership made it clear that the party would fundamentally remain the same.
Professor Lamine (KUL
), a former Vlaams Blok member and "advisor" of the party's legal team, claimed that the party, for propaganda
reasons, purposely undertook 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 party should have carried the trial to the European Court of Human Rights
, but Vlaams Blok 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."
and security
, exploitation of corruption and other scandals, and defense of traditional values. While the party was legitimized first and foremost by its defense of Flemish interests, its voters were mainly motivated by anti-immigration and anti-establishment protest.
, and most issues that were added later, were in some way also connected to this. The Flemish nationalism promoted by the party (volksnationalisme) was according to its program "based on the ethnic community being a naturally occurring entity whose cultural, material, ethical and intellectual interests need to be preserved." While the party primarily worked for an independent Flemish state (modeling the split on that of Czechoslovakia
), it for a long time also promoted the idea that the new state should merge with the Netherlands
, and establish a Dutch-speaking federation (Greater Netherlands). From the 1990s however, the latter idea was downplayed by the party, as the Netherlands then turned into a "permissive, multicultural and social-democratic state" according to one scholar (although this Dutch political situation would be sharply overturned in the 2000s).
became an important issue for the Vlaams Blok from the late 1980s. Interconnected with the Flemish nationalism issue, immigrants were considered to be a threat to the Flemish ethnic community. In 1992, the party established its 70-point plan, which included measures to stop all immigration, return most immigrants to their native countries by force, and legally discriminate against residing migrants in respect of markets such as labour, housing and education. The party's opponents particularly saw its immigration program as a source of claims of racism, and the party thus in its latest years downplayed the relevance of the 70-point plan, and softened its written positions regarding immigration.
Concerns about crime and security was also linked to immigration, as the party particularly blamed Turks and Moroccans for various criminal activity, and sought a zero tolerance
approach regarding law and order
. The party was also strongly anti-Islamic
already early on, and in its 1993 program regarded Islam
as "a doctrine, which preaches holy war
, assassination, forced conversions, oppression of women, slavery and extermination of "infidels", [which] will automatically lead to what we now call fundamentalism." The party was anti-Muslim and portrayed Muslim
s as fifth column
of a cruel and expansionist religion, and after the 1990 Gulf War
called on the government to introduce measures to keep Belgium from being Islamised.
The party 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. When Roeland Raes
cast doubt on the scale of the Holocaust in a television interview in 2001 for instance, the party leadership immediately called an emergency meeting, distanced itself from him and forced him to resign. The party also took screening measures against its local candidates to reveal any possible extremist connections, and rather wanted to risk not being able to fill its lists, rather than filling them with extremists. Particularly, the party wanted to distance itself from Holocaust denial
, as it actively sought to reach out to Jewish voters in Antwerp.
fight against the political establishment, often manifested through political scandals which flourished in 1990s Belgium; including corruption
, food and even pedophile scandals. These included the Agusta scandal
and the Marc Dutroux
affair. The usual suspects were politicians in the three traditional party families; especially the francophone parties.
. While it supported privatisation and tax reductions for small and medium businesses, it also sometimes supported protectionism
and defended the welfare state
, especially if allocated to the native Flemish population.
, as well as the idea of a federal Europe itself. It however defended a con-federal Europe based on sovereign culturally homogeneous nation-states. The European issue was however not an issue the party promoted much.
It also favoured the abolition of the United Nations
, citing; "The illogical composition of the Security Council
. The unwieldy bureaucracy. The democratic deficit." The party did also not have any faith in such a world community or international legal system, questioning the entire logic behind the UN. It rejected the view of any international consensus about concepts as democracy, justice, freedom and human rights, especially since most of its member countries are non-Western and undemocratic.
and Voorpost
, and the South African Boerestaat Party
. In the mid 1980s, it also established close relations particularly with the French National Front, as well as the German People's Union
, The Republicans and National Democratic Party of Germany
. In the 1990s, it supported the minor Dutch Block
party, which had modeled itself directly on the Vlaams Blok.
The party also became very active in establishing contacts with post-communist parties in Eastern European countries, including the Croatian Party of Rights
, Slovak National Party and IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement
. While not keeping official contacts, it was in addition very supportive of left-wing nationalist parties such as the Scottish National Party
, Irish Sinn Féin
and Basque Herri Batasuna. Some of the parties it established contacts with most recently was the Freedom Party of Austria
and the Italian Lega Nord, which after a period of distrust, maintained contacts since 2002.
(and the Dutch-speaking electoral college
in the European Parliament
) gives a somewhat wrong image of the party's support, given that the party only ran in Flanders
, the one half of Belgium
.
is given in the parenthesis.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
far-right and secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
ist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
, calling for the independence of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. From its creation in 1978, it was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement. Vlaams Blok's track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliament elections was strong. The election campaigns consisted mainly of the immigration and law-and-order theme, combined with the desire for Flemish autonomy.
All significant Flemish political parties were reluctant to enter coalitions with the Vlaams Blok. Following a 1989 agreement, known as the cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire — or quarantine line — is a French phrase that, literally translated, means "sanitary cordon". Though in French it originally denoted a barrier implemented to stop the spread of disease, it has often been used in English in a metaphorical sense to refer to attempts to prevent the...
, the party was effectively blocked from entering any level of government. The Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal (Belgium)
The Court of Appeal in Belgium is a court which hears appeals against decisions of the Court of First Instance and the Commercial Court. Unlike the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal isn't divided into different divisions. There are five Courts of Appeal in Belgium...
in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
in April 2004 ruled that some of the party's organizations had breached the 1981 anti-racism law
Belgian Anti-Racism Law
The Belgian Anti-Racism Law, in full, the Law of July 30, 1981 on the punishment of certain acts inspired by racism or xenophobia, is a law against hate speech and discrimination passed by the Federal Parliament of Belgium in 1981 which made certain acts motivated by racism or xenophobia illegal...
and that the party sanctioned discrimination. The ruling was made definite on 9 November 2004, and the party shortly after reorganised itself as the Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
. By 2004, the party had arguably become the single most popular Flemish party in Belgium, supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate, as well as being one of the most successful radical right-wing populist parties in Europe as a whole.
Background, Flemish Movement
The Vlaams Blok originated from the loose Flemish MovementFlemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
, which historically has included an array of organisations seeking, to varying degrees, to promote Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Flemish nationalists operated within the established political parties, and had close ties with the political left. The early organised political expression of Flemish nationalism was triggered by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the introduction of universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
and proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in elections. The main party that initially represented the movement was the left-wing nationalist Front Party
Frontpartij
The Frontpartij was a Belgian political party that campaigned for increasing recognition for the Flemish people and their language. Originating from the earlier Frontbeweging, the Frontpartij was an early attempt to fully politicise the Flemish Movement...
, founded by former soldiers and sympathizers from the trench wars
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in Flanders Fields
Flanders Fields
Flanders Fields is the generic name of the World War I battlefields in the medieval County of Flanders. At the time of World War I, the county no longer existed but corresponded approximately to the Belgian provinces East Flanders and West Flanders and the French Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. The...
disaffected with their French-speaking, often anti-Flemish, officers that had been unable to communicate with their troops. From the 1930s, the main party became the Flemish National Union
Flemish National Union
The Flemish National Union was a Nationalist Flemish political party in Belgium, founded by Staf de Clercq on October 8, 1933. De Clercq became known as den Leider .-Creation:...
which turned to collaborate with the Nazis during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as they had promised them increased Flemish autonomy. These circumstances would compromise the re-emergence of Flemish nationalism after the war, although only a faction of the broader movement had actually pursued an agenda of collaboration.
The direct predecessor to the Vlaams Blok was the People's Union
People's Union (Belgium)
People's Union was a Belgian political party, formed in 1954 as a successor to the "Christian Flemish People's Union", an electoral alliance of Flemish nationalists....
, which was founded in 1954 as the successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union electoral alliance, that had successfully run for election earlier the same year
Belgian general election, 1954
General elections were held in Belgium on 11 April 1954. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 93.2%....
. The party had been careful to choose its leaders from nationalist circles that had not collaborated with the Nazis. While Flemish separatists had been suspicious of the People's Union since its outset, it became clear by the 1970s that the party had moved to a moderate left-liberal course, which led to the defection of its more radical members. The remaining nationalist hardliners finally rejected the party's participation in a new five-party government coalition in 1977, and particularly the Egmont pact
Egmont pact
The Egmont pact of 1977 is an agreement on the reform of Belgium into a federal state and on the relations between the linguistic communities in the country...
, believing it had conceded too much to the francophone government parties.
Early years (1978–1988)
Karel Dillen
Karel Cornelia Constentijn Dillen was a Flemish politician and a Flemish nationalist. In 1977 he established the Vlaams Nationale Partij , which became Vlaams Blok at the elections of 1978...
and Lode Claes. The parties contested the 1978 general elections
Belgian general election, 1978
General elections were held in Belgium on 17 December 1978. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 57 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 29 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 94.8%....
in a coalition called "Vlaams Blok", where they won 1.4% of the vote and one seat in the Chamber of Representatives (taken by Dillen). On 28 May 1979, the VNP and VVP finally merged to form a new party named Vlaams Blok, and Dillen was nominated to be the party's leader for life. The party initially recruited its members from Flemish nationalist organisations, such as the Taal Aktie Komitee, Voorpost
Voorpost
Voorpost is a volksnationalist group founded in Flanders, Belgium by Karel Dillen in 1976 as a splinter from the Volksunie. Voorpost has the vision of Dietsland, a political entity that will unite all Dutch-speaking territories in Europe...
, Were Di, and the Order of Flemish Militants, while some local groups also simply turned into local branches of the Vlaams Blok. In its inception, the party was widely regarded as a conservative separatist party, rather than an extreme right-wing party.
The party did not have much electoral success at first, and was stable at one seat in the 1981 general elections
Belgian general election, 1981
General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 43 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election....
. It stood candidates in very few communities, and was active almost entirely in the city of Antwerp. Having been founded mainly as a protest against the Egmont pact, the party revamped and broadened its platform after the pact collapsed. It did not make much progress in the 1985 general elections
Belgian general election, 1985
The 13 October 1985 Belgian general elections was a Belgian election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and Belgian Senate....
, and Dillen thus started the so-called "Operation Rejuvenation", allowing for an across-the-board change of the party leadership, integrating many leaders of nationalist youth and student organisations into the party council. The party's youth organisation, the Vlaams Blok Jongeren (VBJ), was founded in 1987 by among others Filip Dewinter
Filip Dewinter
Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter is a Flemish politician in Belgium. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party...
and Frank Vanhecke
Frank Vanhecke
Frank Arthur Hyppolite Vanhecke started his career in Belgian politics as a student by joining the Jong Studentenverbond and later the Nationalistische Studentenvereniging. He gave up his membership of the Volksunie in 1977 after it acceded to a much-debated package of federal reforms...
.
Starting in 1983, the Vlaams Blok increasingly began focusing on immigration (inspired by the success of other European right-wing populist parties), and on the international day against racism in 1984 held its first conference to discuss the "foreigner problem." The same year, Dillen proposed a bill in the Chamber of Representatives to offer cash incentive for immigrants to return to their native country. In April 1987, a group around Roger Frankinouille of the only right-wing competitor to the Vlaams Blok, the anti-tax Respect for Labour and Democracy, switched to the party. The party campaigned for the 1987 general election
Belgian general election, 1987
The 13 December 1987 Belgian general elections was a Belgian election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and Belgian Senate....
with the slogan "Own people first" (Eigen volk eerst!, inspired by French National Front slogan "The French first"), and saw a slight victory, winning their first seat in Senate (taken by Dillen), and for the first time two seats in the Chamber (Dewinter and Annemans
Gerolf Annemans
Gerolf Emma Jozef Annemans is a Belgian politician. He is member of Vlaams Belang, a nationalist, conservative and secessionist political party.- Political career :...
). The party's shift towards focusing on immigration was however criticised by some Vlaams Blok members, and ultimately also led to the defection of some top party figures. The party nevertheless made a clear choice of focussing on the immigration issue, which had, and would, give results in elections.
Rise of the party (1988–2004)
The electoral success of the Vlaams Blok began after the younger generation in the party shifted the party's emphasis from Flemish nationalism (separatism) to the immigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
issue. In the 1988 local election in Antwerp the party first started to take off, going from 5.5% of the vote in the city to 17.7%, a success which drew much publicity. On 10 May 1989, based on the Antwerp success, the presidents of all major Belgian parties (including the People's Union) signed a cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire — or quarantine line — is a French phrase that, literally translated, means "sanitary cordon". Though in French it originally denoted a barrier implemented to stop the spread of disease, it has often been used in English in a metaphorical sense to refer to attempts to prevent the...
(hygienic barrier), where the parties agreed to never conclude any political agreements with the Vlaams Blok, nor make immigration a political issue. While the Vlaams Blok itself also largely rejected cooperation with other parties, it did increasingly consider such cooperation, particularly in elections in 1994, 1999 and 2000, only to find themselves effectively blocked by the cordon sanitaire. Although intended to keep the Vlaams Blok from gaining political influence, many argued that the agreement in reality gave room for the strong electoral surge for the party, as it was made into what could be seen as the only "true opposition." The agreement was renewed in following years, and Vlaams Blok chairman Karel Dillen was used to call it the "insurance policy" of his party;
In December 1988, a major split occurred in the party, when a group who opposed the "Operation Rejuvenation" tried to squeeze the Dewinter-VBJ faction out of the party leadership. Led by Geert Wouters, he accused Dewinter's faction of being "Lepenists
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
", and of attempting to sideline the Flemish question to rather favour the immigration question. Dillen however sided with Dewinter, and Wouters and his group left the party and founded the nationalist pressure group called the Nationalist Association-Dutch People’s Movement. In 1989, the party won a seat in the Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
city council, as well as in the European Parliament. There, the Vlaams Blok agreed to form a parliamentary group together with the French National Front and the German The Republicans, called the Technical Group of the European Right
European Right (1989–1994)
The Technical Group of the European Right was a Far-Right political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1989 and 1994.-History:Following the 1989 elections, the previous far-right Group lost its Ulster Unionist and Greek EPEN MEPs...
. The group lacked an ideological coherence (stemming in part from Le Pen's support for a Belgian state nationalism), and was largely organised on pragmatic grounds simply to get financial support.
In the 1991 general election, the Vlaams Blok for the first time surpassed the People's Union, going from two to 12 seats in the Chamber, and from one to five seats in the Senate, in what was afterwards referred to by its opponents as "Black Sunday". In the following years, the party saw a systematic upwards trend in all elections it participated in. In July 1992, the first Vlaams Blok motion was accepted in the Flemish Parliament, which rejected the right of francophone inhabitants in Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...
and Voeren to vote for Wallon institutions. In late 1992, it was announced that Staf Neel, a popular Antwerp city councillor for 22 years for the Socialist Party went over to the Vlaams Blok, thereby causing the SP and CVP to lose their majority in the city council. In 1992, the party ideologue Filip Dewinter
Filip Dewinter
Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter is a Flemish politician in Belgium. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party...
and chairman Karel Dillen established the party's comprehensive immigration program, titled the 70-point plan. The plan sought to close the borders towards non-European immigrants, gradually repatriate those already in the country, and implement an "own people first" principle in all policy areas. Over the course of the 1990s, the party however increasingly distanced itself from the plan as it had alienated the party from gaining political influence, until it was finally officially discarded in 2000.
Frank Vanhecke
Frank Arthur Hyppolite Vanhecke started his career in Belgian politics as a student by joining the Jong Studentenverbond and later the Nationalistische Studentenvereniging. He gave up his membership of the Volksunie in 1977 after it acceded to a much-debated package of federal reforms...
as his successor. The choice of Vanhecke was seen a compromise between the Flemish nationalist wing around Annemans and the Lepenist wing around Dewinter, thus avoiding a potential internal struggle. In 1999, elections were scheduled for the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives and Senate
Belgian general election, 1999
The June 13, 1999 Belgian general elections was a Belgian election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and Belgian Senate. The federal general elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the regional elections. The Flemish Liberals and Democrats won the elections.The...
and the Flemish Parliament, where the Vlaams Blok overtook the position as the third largest Flemish party, winning more than 15% of the vote in all elections, and a total of 45 seats in the various parliaments.
The Vlaams Blok continued to be particularly strong in and around Antwerp, where it received as much as 33% of the vote in the 2000 local elections. In 2001, the party was forced to alter its political program, as according to the laws for party financing, it was not compatible with the European Treaty on Human Rights. In the 2004 Flemish Parliament election, the party finally became the single largest party group in parliament. The party was invited by the formateur
Formateur
A formateur is a politician who is appointed by the head of state to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is especially important in the politics of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg,...
for government discussions, only to find that its differences with the other parties was insurmountable, resulting in the three traditional parties forming a majority government, retaining the cordon sanitaire. By this time, the party had nevertheless become the very most popular Flemish party in Belgium, being supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate.
Court of Cassation ruling (2004)
In October 2000, the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to RacismCentre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism
The Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism , also referred to as Centre for Equal Opportunities and Fight against Racism or translated as Centre for Equal Opportunities and Struggle against Racism The Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (CEOOR), also referred...
, together with the Dutch-speaking Human Rights League in Belgium
Human Rights League (Dutch-speaking Belgium)
The Human Rights League for speakers of Dutch in Belgium is by them called Liga voor Mensenrechten.The in 1901 founded national organisation Ligue des Droits de l'Homme had been dissolved during World War I and its successor by World War II...
registered a complaint at the Correctional Court, in which they claimed that three non-profit organisations connected to the Vlaams Blok (its education and research office and the "National Broadcasting Corporation") had violated the 1981 anti-racism law
Belgian Anti-Racism Law
The Belgian Anti-Racism Law, in full, the Law of July 30, 1981 on the punishment of certain acts inspired by racism or xenophobia, is a law against hate speech and discrimination passed by the Federal Parliament of Belgium in 1981 which made certain acts motivated by racism or xenophobia illegal...
. The publications which were referred to included its 1999 election agenda and 1997 party platform. The challenged passages included those where the party called for a separate education system for foreign children, a special tax for employers employing non-European foreigners, and a restriction of unemployment benefits and child allowances for non-European foreigners.
In June 2001, the Brussels Correctional Court declared itself incompetent to hear the case, as it related to political misconduct. In February 2003, the Brussels Appellate Court followed and gave a similar judgement. The original plaintiffs then appealed, and the case was sent to the Court of Appeals in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, which upheld the complaint; the Vlaams Blok non-profit organisations were fined, and it was deemed that the Vlaams Blok was an organisation that sanctioned discrimination. The Vlaams Blok lodged an appeal which was rejected, and in November 2004, the ruling was made definite, when it was upheld by the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Belgium)
The Court of Cassation is the main court of last resort in Belgium.It was originally modelled after the French Cour de cassation. Its jurisdiction and powers are similar to those of its French counterpart....
. The ruling meant that the party would lose access to state funding and access to television, effectively shutting the party down.
Reactions
The whole trial was seen by some as a political trial, inspired by the Belgian establishmentThe Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
. The federal parliament had notably amended the Constitution in order to create legal possibilities to condemn the party. The Vlaams Blok also pointed at the problem of political nomination of judges, and again claimed that the lawsuit had been a political process coordinated with the Belgian Ministry of the Interior.
The leadership of the Vlaams Blok seized the occasion of the ban to dissolve the party, and start afresh under a new name. Five days later, on 14 November, the Vlaams Blok disbanded itself, and a new party with the name Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
was established. (Other proposed names included the Flemish People's Party and Flemish Freedom Front.) The new party instituted a number of changes in its political program, carefully moderating some of the more extreme positions of the former Vlaams Blok. Nevertheless, the party leadership made it clear that the party would fundamentally remain the same.
Professor Lamine (KUL
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
), a former Vlaams Blok member and "advisor" of the party's legal team, claimed that the party, for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
reasons, purposely undertook 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 party should have carried the trial to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
, but Vlaams Blok senator Joris Van Hauthem
Joris Van Hauthem
Joris Van Hauthem is floor leader in the Belgian Senate for the Flemish movement Vlaams Belang party. He was born in Anderlecht, Brussels and lives now in Lennik.He has a degree in modern history.-Political functions:...
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."
Ideology
The main ideological and political strategies of the Vlaams Blok started out with its radical nationalist rejection of the People's Union compromise on the Flemish autonomy issue, later to be followed by focus on immigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and security
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
, exploitation of corruption and other scandals, and defense of traditional values. While the party was legitimized first and foremost by its defense of Flemish interests, its voters were mainly motivated by anti-immigration and anti-establishment protest.
Flemish nationalism
The main issue for the party was Flemish nationalismFlemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
, and most issues that were added later, were in some way also connected to this. The Flemish nationalism promoted by the party (volksnationalisme) was according to its program "based on the ethnic community being a naturally occurring entity whose cultural, material, ethical and intellectual interests need to be preserved." While the party primarily worked for an independent Flemish state (modeling the split on that of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
), it for a long time also promoted the idea that the new state should merge with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and establish a Dutch-speaking federation (Greater Netherlands). From the 1990s however, the latter idea was downplayed by the party, as the Netherlands then turned into a "permissive, multicultural and social-democratic state" according to one scholar (although this Dutch political situation would be sharply overturned in the 2000s).
Immigration, minorities
ImmigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
became an important issue for the Vlaams Blok from the late 1980s. Interconnected with the Flemish nationalism issue, immigrants were considered to be a threat to the Flemish ethnic community. In 1992, the party established its 70-point plan, which included measures to stop all immigration, return most immigrants to their native countries by force, and legally discriminate against residing migrants in respect of markets such as labour, housing and education. The party's opponents particularly saw its immigration program as a source of claims of racism, and the party thus in its latest years downplayed the relevance of the 70-point plan, and softened its written positions regarding immigration.
Concerns about crime and security was also linked to immigration, as the party particularly blamed Turks and Moroccans for various criminal activity, and sought a zero tolerance
Zero tolerance
Zero tolerance imposes automatic punishment for infractions of a stated rule, with the intention of eliminating undesirable conduct. Zero-tolerance policies forbid persons in positions of authority from exercising discretion or changing punishments to fit the circumstances subjectively; they are...
approach regarding law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
. The party was also strongly anti-Islamic
Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
already early on, and in its 1993 program regarded Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as "a doctrine, which preaches holy war
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
, assassination, forced conversions, oppression of women, slavery and extermination of "infidels", [which] will automatically lead to what we now call fundamentalism." The party was anti-Muslim and portrayed Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s as fifth column
Fifth column
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...
of a cruel and expansionist religion, and after the 1990 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
called on the government to introduce measures to keep Belgium from being Islamised.
The party was according to political scientist Cas Mudde
Cas Mudde
Cas Mudde is a Dutch academic who studies the Extreme Right in Europe. As of 2010 he is a visiting scholar at the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics and visiting associate professor at the political science department DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana...
only very rarely accused of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
– and even then, it was strongly condemned by the party leadership. When Roeland Raes
Roeland Raes
Roeland Raes is a Belgian politician, a former senator for and vice president of the political party 'Vlaams Blok'. Raes took a dr. iur. at Ghent University....
cast doubt on the scale of the Holocaust in a television interview in 2001 for instance, the party leadership immediately called an emergency meeting, distanced itself from him and forced him to resign. The party also took screening measures against its local candidates to reveal any possible extremist connections, and rather wanted to risk not being able to fill its lists, rather than filling them with extremists. Particularly, the party wanted to distance itself from Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, as it actively sought to reach out to Jewish voters in Antwerp.
Anti-establishment
Another element in the ideology of the party was a populistPopulism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
fight against the political establishment, often manifested through political scandals which flourished in 1990s Belgium; including corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
, food and even pedophile scandals. These included the Agusta scandal
Agusta scandal
The Agusta scandal or the Case Agusta-Dassault was a Belgian corruption scandal. It resulted from the purchase of military helicopter of the Agusta A109 Agusta-type by the Belgian Army in 1988, where Agusta and Dassault bribed various office holders...
and the Marc Dutroux
Marc Dutroux
Marc Dutroux is a Belgian serial killer and child molester, convicted of having kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls during 1995 and 1996, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom he murdered. He was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein,...
affair. The usual suspects were politicians in the three traditional party families; especially the francophone parties.
Economy
The party had no strong economic preferences, and generally supported a mixed economyMixed economy
Mixed economy is an economic system in which both the state and private sector direct the economy, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and planned economies. Most mixed economies can be described as market economies with strong regulatory oversight, in addition to having a variety...
. While it supported privatisation and tax reductions for small and medium businesses, it also sometimes supported protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and defended the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
, especially if allocated to the native Flemish population.
Foreign policy
The party was the only major Belgian party that opposed Belgium's membership of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, as well as the idea of a federal Europe itself. It however defended a con-federal Europe based on sovereign culturally homogeneous nation-states. The European issue was however not an issue the party promoted much.
It also favoured the abolition of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, citing; "The illogical composition of the Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
. The unwieldy bureaucracy. The democratic deficit." The party did also not have any faith in such a world community or international legal system, questioning the entire logic behind the UN. It rejected the view of any international consensus about concepts as democracy, justice, freedom and human rights, especially since most of its member countries are non-Western and undemocratic.
International relations
The Vlaams Blok maintained good contacts with nationalist parties throughout Europe and other countries. The Vlaams Blok did traditionally have the closest contacts with Dutch and South African far-right groups, including the Dutch Centre Party '86, the Centre DemocratsCentre Democrats (Netherlands)
The Centre Democrats was a political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 1984 by members who split out from the Centre Party , the Centre Democrats was joined one month later by the only CP Member of Parliament—Hans Janmaat. Janmaat went on to become the leader of the party, which...
and Voorpost
Voorpost
Voorpost is a volksnationalist group founded in Flanders, Belgium by Karel Dillen in 1976 as a splinter from the Volksunie. Voorpost has the vision of Dietsland, a political entity that will unite all Dutch-speaking territories in Europe...
, and the South African Boerestaat Party
Boerestaat Party
The Boerstaat Party is a right wing South African political party founded on September 30, 1986 by the late Robert van Tonder. It was never official because the required 500 persons under one roof could not be rallied. It was never represented in the South African Parliament, neither in the...
. In the mid 1980s, it also established close relations particularly with the French National Front, as well as the German People's Union
German People's Union
The German People's Union is a nationalist political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it is largely dependent on Frey....
, The Republicans and National Democratic Party of Germany
National Democratic Party of Germany
The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...
. In the 1990s, it supported the minor Dutch Block
Dutch Block
The Dutch Block was a Dutch nationalist political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. It was founded by Alfred Vierling, Ton Steemers en Hans Lindenburg, modeled on the Flemish Block and later taken over by Wim Vreeswijk, who became council member in Utrecht.The party was founded in 1992...
party, which had modeled itself directly on the Vlaams Blok.
The party also became very active in establishing contacts with post-communist parties in Eastern European countries, including the Croatian Party of Rights
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights is a right-wing political party in Croatia. The "right" in the party's name refer to the idea of Croatian national and ethnic rights that the party has vowed to protect since its founding in the 19th century...
, Slovak National Party and IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement
IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement
The IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria. The abbreviation IMRO references the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, a historic Bulgarian-established revolutionary political organization in the Macedonia and Thrace regions. IMRO – BNM's current...
. While not keeping official contacts, it was in addition very supportive of left-wing nationalist parties such as the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
, Irish Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and Basque Herri Batasuna. Some of the parties it established contacts with most recently was the Freedom Party of Austria
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
and the Italian Lega Nord, which after a period of distrust, maintained contacts since 2002.
Election results
Note that the election results in elections other than those for the Flemish ParliamentFlemish Parliament
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders, for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and a cultural community of Belgium The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , and formerly called Flemish Council or Vlaamse Raad) constitutes the...
(and the Dutch-speaking electoral college
Dutch-speaking electoral college
The Dutch-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 14 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
) gives a somewhat wrong image of the party's support, given that the party only ran in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, the one half of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Chamber of Representatives
| Election year | # of total votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 75,635 | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1981 | 66,424 | 1.8% | 1 |
| 1985 | 85,391 | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1987 | 116,534 | 1.9% | 2 |
| 1991 | 405,247 | 6.6% | 12 |
| 1995 | 475,677 | 7.8% | 11 |
| 1999 | 613,523 | 9.9% | 15 |
| 2003 | 761,407 | 11.6% | 18 |
Senate
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 80,809 | 1.5% | 0 |
| 1981 | 71,733 | 1.2% | 0 |
| 1985 | 90,120 | 1.5% | 0 |
| 1987 | 122,953 | 2.0% | 1 |
| 1991 | 414,481 | 6.8% | 5 |
| 1995 | 583,208 | 9.4% | 4 |
| 1999 | 583,208 | 9.4% | 4 |
| 2003 | 741,940 | 11.3% | 5 |
Flemish Parliament
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 465,239 | 12.3% | 15 |
| 1999 | 603,345 | 15.5% | 20 |
| 2004 | 981,587 | 24.2% | 32 |
European Parliament
Results in the Dutch-speaking electoral collegeDutch-speaking electoral college
The Dutch-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 14 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
is given in the parenthesis.
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 73,174 | 1.3% (2.1%) | 0 |
| 1989 | 241,117 | 4.1% (6.6%) | 1 |
| 1994 | 463,919 | 7.8% (12.6%) | 2 |
| 1999 | 584,392 | 9.4% (15.1%) | 2 |
| 2004 | 930,731 | 14.3% (23.2%) | 3 |
External links
- Vlaams Blok website
- Flanders Independent site
- The Flemish Republic online newsletter for English-speaking people, a website of the Vlaams Blok
- Supreme Court's decision of 9 November 2004, (pdf document), provisional version of the original decision in Dutch
- Official Vlaams Blok party comment on the conviction