Vlaams Belang

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Vlaams Belang
Logo of the party "Vlaams Belang"
Tom Van Grieken
Party leader Tom Van Grieken
founding 1979 as Vlaams Blok,
2004 as Vlaams Belang
Place of foundation Antwerp
Headquarters Vlaams Belang
Madouplein 8 bus 9
1210 Brussels
Alignment Right-wing extremism
Völkischer Nationalism
Separatism
Right-wing populism
Colours) black yellow
Belgian Chamber of Deputies
18/150
Belgian Senate
7/60
Flemish Parliament
23/124
Brussels Parliament
1/89
Number of members 17,255 (2014)
MEPs
3/21
European party Party identity and democracy
EP Group Identity and democracy
Website www.vlaamsbelang.org

Listen to Vlaams Belang ? / i ( German Flemish Interests ) is a far-right separatist regional party in Belgium . She takes nationalist positions. Your style is considered right-wing populist . In the Flanders region , it was one of the three parties with the highest number of votes in the 1990s and 2000s. The party was founded in 2004 as the successor organization to the Vlaams Blok (Flemish Bloc), which disbanded itself during a trial to avoid a possible party ban and conviction as a racist organization. Audio file / audio sample  

VB takes a radical position within Flemish nationalism . A more moderate direction led to the N-VA , which was initially left-liberal and later more conservative.

history

In 1979 the Vlaams Blok was created from a merger of the two right-wing splinter parties Vlaamse Volkspartij ("Flemish People's Party") and Vlaams Nationale Partij ("Flemish National Party"), which had split off from the Volksunie . The Vlaams Blok achieved a breakthrough in 1991 through its xenophobic program. The founder and longstanding chairman was Karel Dillen (1925–2007).

The party seeks independence for the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, Flanders. You are committed to protecting the Flemish cultural heritage and the Dutch mother tongue. The francophone part of Belgium is perceived as being marked by corruption and mismanagement.

The Vlaams Blok achieved great electoral successes in the 1990s, especially in the stronghold of Antwerp , which was also observed with great concern abroad because of the anti-immigrant program. The Vlaams Blok is therefore seen by the other parties established in Belgium as not capable of forming a coalition and government participation is unanimously rejected. This rejection is called cordon sanitaire .

Cooperation with the French-speaking Belgian Front National was impaired by the fact that the Front National did not advocate division, but rather the unity of Belgium.

After Vlaams Blok was convicted of racism in 2004 , the latter renamed itself Vlaams Belang in order to "strip off the odium of racism". The party has been struggling with dwindling votes since 2010. One of the main reasons for this can be seen in the rise of the more moderate Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (NVA), which is also campaigning for the autonomy or complete independence of Flanders.

An investigation by the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws shows that fifteen Nazi supporters are among the candidates for the Vlaams Belang in the provincial elections in October 2018. The party has announced that it will initiate disciplinary proceedings against these candidates.

program

Vlaams Belang advocates independence for Flanders, restrictions on immigration and a free market economy. Further program items are:

The Vlaams Belang rejects a multicultural society and demands that immigrants assimilate into Flemish culture. In particular, immigration from Muslim countries and the establishment of Islam are rejected as “threatening Islamization ”. In addition, the party is critical of the European Union and therefore participates at European level in the eurosceptic European Alliance for Freedom . The Vlaams Belang also works with right-wing populist and right-wing extremist movements in Germany such as Pro Köln , Pro NRW and Pro Deutschland .

Election results

From the elections from 1981 up to and including the 2004 European elections and the 2004 Flemish regional elections , the election results under the previous party "Vlaams Blok" are described, the following results show the election results of the successor party "Vlaams Belang".

Results of the Flemish regional elections
year be right proportion of Mandates space
1995 465.239 12.3%
15/124
 4th
1999 603.345 15.5%
20/124
 3.
2004 981.587 24.2%
32/124
 2.
2009 628.564 15.3%
21/124
 2.
2014 232.813 6.0%
6/124
 6th
2019 783.977 18.5%
23/124
 2.
Results in the parliamentary elections
year be right proportion of Mandates space
1981 66,422 1.1%
1/212
 13.
1985 85.391 1.4%
1/212
 10.
1987 116,534 1.9%
2/212
 10.
1991 405.247 6.6%
12/212
 7th
1995 475,677 7.8%
11/150
 7th
1999 613,399 9.9%
15/150
 5.
2003 767.605 11.6%
18/150
 5.
2007 799.844 12.0%
17/150
 3.
2010 506.697 7.8%
12/150
 7th
2014 247,746 3.7%
3/150
 10.
2019 810.177 12.0%
18/150
 2.
Results in the Senate elections
year be right proportion of Mandates space
1981 71,733 1.2%
0/106
 13.
1985 90.120 1.5%
0/106
 10.
1987 122,953 2.0%
1/105
 10.
1991 414.481 6.8%
5/106
 7th
1995 463,896 7.7%
3/40
 6th
1999 583.208 9.4%
4/40
 5.
2003 741.940 11.3%
5/40
 6th
2007 787.782 11.9%
5/40
 4th
2010 491,519 7.6%
3/40
 7th
Results in the European elections
year be right proportion of Mandates space
1984 73.174 1.3%
0/24
 12.
1989 241.117 4.1%
1/24
 10.
1994 463.919 7.8%
2/25
 6th
1999 584,392 9.4%
2/25
 5.
2004 930.731 14.3%
3/24
 2.
2009 647.170 9.9%
2/22
 4th
2014 284,856 4.3%
1/21
 9.
2019 811.169 12.1%
3/21
 2.

See also

literature

Entries in reference books

  • Stephen E. Atkins: Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups . Greenwood Press, Westport 2004, ISBN 0-313-32485-9 , pp. 335-336. (see: Vlaams Blok (Flemish Bloc) (VB) (Belgium) )
  • Dirk Rochtus: Vlaams Belang (Belgium) . In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus . Hostility to Jews in the past and present . Volume 5: Organizations, Institutions, Movements . On behalf of the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technical University of Berlin. De Gruyter Saur, Berlin a. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-598-24078-2 , pp. 635-637.
  • Bernd Wagner (Hrsg.): Handbook for right-wing extremism: networks, parties, organizations, ideology centers, media (= rororo current . 13425). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-499-13425-X , p. 224. (see: Vlaams Blok (VB) - Flemish Block )

Contributions to edited volumes

  • Jo Buelens: The Vlaams Belang . In: Anwen Elias, Filippo Tronconi (Ed.): From protest to power: autonomist parties and the challenges of representation . Braumüller, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-7003-1759-3 , p. 283 ff.
  • Benjamin de Cleen: The Stage as an Arena of Political Struggle. The struggle between Vlaams Blok / Belang and Flemish city theaters . In: Ruth Wodak , Majid KhosraviNik, Brigitte Mral (Eds.): Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse . Bloomsbury, London a. a. 2013, ISBN 978-1-78093-343-6 , pp. 209 ff.
  • Hilde Coffé, Jeroen Dewulf: Wavering between Radical and Moderate: The Discourse of the Vlaams Belang in Flanders (Belgium) . In: Matthew Feldman, Paul Jackson (Ed.): Doublespeak: the rhetoric of the far right since 1945 (= Explorations of the far right . Vol. 3). Ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8382-0554-0 , p. 147 ff.
  • Gilles Ivaldi, Marc Swyngedouw: Right-wing extremism in populist form. Front National and Vlaams Belang . In: Frank Decker (Ed.): Populism: Danger to Democracy or Useful Corrective? . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-531-14537-1 , pp. 121-143.
  • Johan Leman: 'Flemish Interest' (VB) and Islamophobia. Political, legal and judical dealings . In: Humayun Ansari , Farid Hafez (Ed.): From the far right to the mainstream. Islamophobia in party politics and the media . Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-593-39648-4 , pp. 69-90.
  • Mona Moufahim, Michael Humphreys: Marketing an extremist ideology. The Vlaams Belang's nationalist discourse . In: Alison Pullen, Carl Rhodes (Eds.): The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations . Routledge, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-415-82126-1 , pp. 85 ff.
  • Vincent Scheltiens: From Vlaams Blok to Vlaams Belang. Analysis of a problem, discussion of counter-strategies . In: Peter Bathke, Susanne Spindler (ed.): Neoliberalism and right-wing extremism in Europe: Connections - contradictions - counter-strategies (= texts of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation . Vol. 29). Dietz, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-320-02086-2 , p. 88 ff.
  • Marc Swyngedouw, Koen Abts, Maarten Van Craen: Our Own People First in a Europe of Peoples. The International Policy of the Vlaams Blok . In: Christina Schiori Lang (Ed.): Europe for the Europeans: The Foreign and Security Policy of the Populist Radical Right . Ashgate Publishing, Burlington et al. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-7546-4851-2 , p. 81 ff.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/politiek/1.2133806
  2. ↑ Eckhard Jesse , Tom Thieme : Extremism in the EU states. Theoretical and conceptual foundations . In the S. (Ed.): Extremism in the EU countries . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-17065-7 , p. 24.
  3. ↑ a b Dirk Rochtus: Vlaams Belang (Belgin). In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Volume 5: Organizations, Institutions, Movements, 2012 Berlin / Boston, pp. 635f
  4. ↑ https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/detail_quinze-sympathisants-nazis-parmi-les-candidats-vlaams-belang?id=10034172