The Vlaams Belang ( Flemish Intérêt ), which was called Vlaams Blok ( Flemish Bloc ) before the November 15th 2004 is a left nationalist Flemish Extreme-right-hand side, known, including apart from the Belgium, for its preserving and nationalist ideas. With the elections of the Flemish Parliament of the June 13rd 2004, Vlaams Blok collected 24% of the votes, becoming thus the second Flemish party, behind the Cartel CD&V/N-VA (democratic Christians + nationalist).

History

With the elections of the December 17th 1978, Vlaams Blok was a kind of Cartel joining together two dissidences of the Volksunie: the Vlaams Main road Partij (“Left national Flemish”) of Karel Dillen and the Vlaamse Volkspartij (“Flemish Popular party”) of Lode Claes. These two parties had separated from Volksunie following a dissension on the Pacte of Egmont.

Karel Dillen was the only elected official and the tendency which it represented ends up taking the ascending one: Vlaams Nationale Partij amalgamated definitively with the radical wing of Vlaams Volkspartij to form Vlaams Blok. Lode Claes disappeared from this new party. Karel Dillen described in a Manifest van het rechts Vlaams-nationalism (“Proclamation of the Flemish nationalism of right-hand side”) the fundamental designs of the party.

November 18th, 1992, the Flemish Parliament votes a motion which condemns the program “anti-immigrants” of Vlaams Blok.

Birth of the Vlaams Belang

The November 14th 2004, at the time of a joined together congress with Antwerp, Vlaams Blok dissolves and redesigns a new party with the same people and primarily the same program: the Vlaams Belang .

The congress made following the decision of the Court of appeal of Belgium, the November 9th, to confirm a preceding stop of the Court of Appeal of Ghent, the April 21st 2004, which condemned for Racisme and Xénophobie several associations “close” to Vlaams Blok: Vlaamse Concentratie (VC), Nationaal Vormingsinstituut (NV) and Nationalistische Omroepstichting (OUR), with heavy penal fines and was likely to involve, in the short run, a setting outlaw of the party itself. Indeed, the law says that a party that justice qualifies " raciste" can see itself depriving of its public Dotation. However the VB could not take the risk to thus see escaping a considerable part of its finances.

The party thus changes name, while preserving the same initial ones (VB) and the same colors, the black and the yellow, which are those of the Flanders. In preparation for the stop of November 9th, which was awaited, the party had beforehand amended its, renonçant to ask “for the reference towards their country of broad groups of nonEuropean immigrants ”, and makes from now on countryside for a non-acceptance of those which “ reject, deny or fight our culture ”.

The president of Vlaams Blok, Frank Vanhecke, which should play a comparable part in the new party (just as the other outstanding figures such as Filip Dewinter) called recently with the immediate departure of the clandestine immigrants and the need, for the immigrants observing the conditions of stay, of “ to adapt to our manner of living, with our language and our culture ”.

During the legislature 2000-2006, an elected official CD&V of the district of Deurne passes to Vlaams Belang becoming thus the very first alderman of this party.

Program

Vlaams Belang militates in particular against immigration of mass and for the independence of the Flanders. One also finds in his program the topics of the safety and the defense of the traditional family inter alia by the introduction of wages of teacher for the men and housewives.

In preparation for the elections of June 10th, 2007, Filip De Man (which in particular claimed that a Musulman cannot be a democratic ) reveals some elements of the next countryside (quoted in the newspaper De Morgen): " We turn over to the base, with the source: against massive immigration, for the protection of our European culture supérieure" .

Heads of the party

Vlaams Belang is represented today mainly by three figureheads: Frank Vanhecke (president), Filip Dewinter and Gerolf Annemans.

Some quotations:

• Filip Dewinter : " Those which wear the veil, with the porte."
• Frank Vanhecke : " In Europe, there is no place for the islam."

Vlaams Belang (asbl)

The Belgian Monitor being taken, Vlaams Belang is a asbl made up in Liege on November 8th, 2004, by Thierry Bodson, Marc Goblet, Vincent Grignard and Pierre Heldenbergh.

The asbl has as an aim defense " values democratic in Wallonia, Flanders and in Brussels, to be opposed to the rise parties of extreme right-hand side, and to give the opportunity to the whole of the citizens to express their attachment with the values démocratiques."

The political party " Vlaams Belang" is, of its complete name, the asbl Algemeen Vlaams Belang (in summary AVB), made up in Brussels on December 22nd, 2004, by Frank Vanhecke, Gerolf Annemans, Philip Dewinter and Patsy Vatlet.