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Vlaams Blok
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The Vlaams Blok (VB, English: Flemish Bloc) was a Belgian anti-immigration, nationalist and secessionist political party, calling for independence of Flanders. On November 14, 2004, the party was dissolved and a new party was created under the name Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). It was since its creation in 1978 the least moderate and notably militant right wing of the Flemish movement.
The largest Flemish parties were reluctant to enter coalitions with the Vlaams Blok, and committed not to, an agreement known as the cordon sanitaire. As of 2006, this agreement still extends to the successor of Vlaams Blok, Vlaams Belang, although a coalition exists between the Vlaams Belang and VLOTT for the 2006 municipal elections.
An appeal court in Ghent, Belgium, ruled in April 2004 that some of the party's organizations were in contempt with the 1981 law on racism and xenophobia, after which the Vlaams Belang party was formed. Its voting track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliaments was strong and consistent on the immigration and law-and-order theme, but mixed for Flemish autonomy (e.g.: it abstained from a crucial vote on splitting the unified electoral district of Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde/Bruxelles-Hal-Vilvorde).
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The party first made its appearance in the 1978 general elections. It was founded by dissatisfied members, including a former deputy of the then Volksunie (Lode Claes) and more militants as Karel Dillen. The founders had strong links to, and open sympathies for, the collaboration with the Nazis during World War II.[citation needed] It has experienced a continuous electoral growth (with the exception of the 1981 elections). The Vlaams Blok was particularly strong in and around Antwerp, where it received thirty-three percent of the votes in the last municipal elections in which it participated.
Since the end of the eighties, its main focus tends to be on "nationalist" themes such as immigration and crime. Because of this evolution, some members have left the party, but this doesn't seem to have caused much electoral damage. Many studies and opinion polls show that its electoral support is mainly based on its tough image on immigration and crime, and on its image as the "only real opposition party", rather than on its platform for the creation of an independent Flemish republic. In fact, some polls show that a majority of its electorate is opposed to the disappearance of the Belgian monarchy. Others have suggested that many Vlaams Blok voters chose to support them not out of agreement with their policies but more out of disillusionment with the political establishment during the 1990s.
Other Flemish parties followed a cordon sanitaire against the Vlaams Blok, but several politicians in these parties (such as the CD&V, VLD and N-VA) actually criticised the cordon sanitaire as being undemocratic.
Some observers noted that a few factions existed within the Vlaams Blok: a religious conservative, Catholic wing (whose most notable figure is Alexandra Colen), more moderate Flemish nationalists, and more hardline racists.
In 1996, Karel Dillen, who was "President for life" since 1977, appointed Frank Vanhecke as his successor. It is believed by many that Filip Dewinter is the party's real strong man.
In 2002 party ideologue and vice-president Roeland Raes gave an interview on Dutch TV where he cast doubt over the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In the same interview he also questioned the scale of the Nazis' use of gas chambers and the authenticity of Anne Frank's diary. In response to the media assault following the interview, Raes was forced to resign his position but vowed to remain active within the party [1]. In 2003, a Vlaams Blok politician was dropped from a delegation of Flemish parliamentarians due to visit the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly after strongly criticizing the SNP [2].
In April 2004, an appeal court in Ghent, Belgium, ruled the party in contempt with the 1981 Belgian law on racism and xenophobia. The court ruled that the party regularly portrays foreigners as "criminals who take bread from the mouths of Flemish workers" and found it guilty of "permanent incitement to segregation and racism."
The Vlaams Blok appealed the court decision, but the ruling was confirmed on November 9, 2004 by the Belgian High Court, effectively sentencing the party to abandoning the racist elements of its program and paying a fine of about 40,000 Euros. The leadership of the Vlaams Blok seized the occasion to dissolve the party, and start afresh under a new name.
The whole trial was seen by some as a political trial, inspired by the Belgian establishment. The federal parliament changed the Constitution to create legal possibilities to get the Vlaams Blok condemned. [3] According to professor Lamine (KUL), a former VB member and "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."[4] 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."[5] Law professor Lamine denied this : "The party legal department's head doesn't know what he's doing."[5]
On November 9, 2004, the Belgian Supreme Court upheld a decision of the Appeal court of Ghent ruling that three organizations associated with the Vlaams Blok were in contempt with the 1981 Belgian law on racism and xenophobia, or more precisely that the party pursued permanent incitement to discrimination and racial segregation. The Supreme Court held that the prohibition to pursue discrimination and segregation in an obvious and sustained manner is also applicable to political parties (press release in Dutch [6] and in French [7], see decision in Dutch below).
On November 14, the Vlaams Blok disbanded itself, and a new party with the name Vlaams Belang (in English: Flemish Interest) was created. According to the party leaders, the new party will follow the same programme as used during the regional elections of 2004, but without the infamous '70 steps plan', which was the basis of the party since 1992.
Gerolf Annemans created instant controversy during the inauguration event of the new party by issuing veiled personal threats to the prosecutors and judges who presided over the case in the Supreme Court and courts of appeal. Gerolf Annemans declared during the new party congress: "De namen van alle juridische hoofdrolspelers uit dat proces staan voorgoed in het geheugen van déze jurist gegrift: ze zijn gewaarschuwd voor de rest van hun carrière" which can be translated as "The names of all main legal figures in that trial are forever engraved in this lawyer's memory; they are warned for the rest of their careers".
- Gerolf Annemans
- Lode Claes
- Filip Dewinter
- Karel Dillen
- Roeland Raes
- Frank Vanhecke
- Anke Vandermeersch
| 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 | 9.87% | 15 |
| 2003 | 761,407 | 11.59% | 18 |
| 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 | 9.41% | 4 |
| 2003 | 741,940 | 11.32% | 5 |
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 73,174 | 1.3% | 0 |
| 1989 | 241,117 | 4.1% | 1 |
| 1994 | 463,919 | 7.8% | 2 |
| 1999 | 584,392 | 9.39% | 2 |
| 2004 | 930,731 | 14.34% | 3 |
- ^ "Far-right Belgian banned from UK visit", The Guardian, 2003-09-02.
- ^ "Belgium's far right party in Holocaust controversy", The Guardian, 2001-03-09.
- ^ "Belgians Waffle? A Ban to Worry About", TCS Daily, 2004-11-22.
- ^ (Dutch) Eigen voetvolk bijlange niet meer eerst, De Morgen, 22 July 2006, p. 26 (subscription required).
- ^ a b (Dutch) "Vlaams Belang niet in beroep tegen veroordeling", De Standaard, 2005-03-07.
- ^ Dutch press release
- ^ French press release
- Erik, Jan (May 2005). "From Vlaams Blok to Vlaams Belang: The Belgian Far-Right Renames Itself". West European Politics 28 (3): 493-502.
- Vlaams Blok website
- Flanders Independent site
- The Flemish Republic online newsletter for English-speaking people, a web site of the Vlaams Blok
- Supreme Court's decision of November 9, 2004, (pdf document), provisional version of the original decision in Dutch
- Official Vlaams Blok party comment on the conviction
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