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founder of the Volksunie Jongeren (the
youth organisation of the VU). On the
other side, the more nationalist and
liberal Vlaamse Volkspartij (VVP) was
formed under Lode Claes, who was
also a former VU member.
After the Belgian Government collapsed
in 1978 as a result of the Egmont Agreement
and new elections were called, the
VNP and VVP stood with a joint electoral
list under the name of Vlaams Blok
(VB). After a poor performance in which
they gained less than 1% of the vote,
the VVP merged with the VNP. The
electoral pact was transformed into the
Vlaams Blok party under the leadership
of Dillen, the only person to have won a
seat in the elections. 21 In its early years,
the VB was a small splinter party, gaining
between 1% and 2% of the vote in
elections to the Chamber of Representatives
and the Senate up to the end of
the 1980s. Politically it focused on the
main aim of an autonomous Flanders.
Spurred on by the electoral successes
of extremist right-wing parties in neighbouring
countries, during the 1980s it
shifted from being a separatist-nationalist
party into a modern far-right party
representing a broad range of issues.
Dillen, Chairman of the VB up to 1996
and MEP from 1994 to 2004, launched
“Operation Verjüngung” [Operation Rejuvenation]
in 1985. Large sections of
the party leadership were replaced by
young VB members, and Vlaams Blok
Jongeren (the youth organisation of the
VB) was founded in 1987. In this period,
the issue of immigration was emerging
on the political agenda, culminating
in the 1987 “Eigen volk eerst!” (“Our
own people first”) campaign, as a result
of which the VB gained two seats
in the Chamber of Representatives and
its first seat in the Senate. 22 The VB
achieved its electoral breakthrough in
1991, when it obtained 6.6% of the vote
in elections to the Chamber of Representatives
and 6.8% of the vote in elections
to the Senate. Up to 2003, the party
was successively able to improve on
its results by 1-2%. In 2003, it obtained
its best result with 11.6% and 18 seats
in the Chamber of Deputies and 11.3%
and 5 seats in the Senate. In elections
to the Flemish Parliament in 2004, the
VB was the second largest party in parliament
with 24.2% of the vote, but did
not participate in the government due to
a broad containment policy on the part
of other parties. In terms of issues, the
VB represented a strong Flemish ethno-nationalism,
opposed immigration,
preferred a strong state with a hard-line
approach to internal security, and positioned
itself as an anti-party within the
political establishment. 23 For example, a
70-point plan for the (if necessary forcible)
repatriation of immigrants to their
supposed country of origin was drawn
up and presented.
In November 2004 the VB was formally
wound up and a new party, Vlaams Belang,
was founded immediately thereafter.
This was the result of a ruling by
the Belgian Supreme Court which found
that three of the organisations associated
with the party were racist and that
the party had infringed anti-racism legislation.
The Vlaams Blok feared that
it would lose its public subsidies so it
relaunched itself with a watered-down
party manifesto. “Foreigners” would no
longer be deported indiscriminately but
would be able to remain in Belgium if
they were not criminals and were willing
to integrate. The VB leadership nevertheless
made it clear that the party remained
substantially the same, despite
having been reformed. It viewed the ban
as an attack on freedom of opinion. Under
the heading “Trial is Assassination”,
party leader Frank Vanhecke wrote:
“On 9 November [...] it was decided
whether opinions in this country are
still free [...] whether the multicultural
society is truly able to tolerate the
freedom of expression. In the Netherlands,
this freedom is threatened
by religious and political fanatics
carrying revolvers. In our country,
the weapons are for the time being
still in the drawer.” 24
Despite a short-term gain in subsequent
elections, the 2010 results saw
a collapse, with the VB losing around
a third of its voters. The VB is currently
represented in the Chamber of Deputies
with 12 members and in the Senate
with 3 members. The strongest
force in the Chamber of Deputies is the
national-conservative Nieuw-Vlaamse
Alliantie (N-VA,17.4%), followed by the
Wallonian Socialists (PS,13.7 %) and
the Christian-Democratic party Christen-Democratisch
en Vlaams (CD&V,
10.8%). 25
COUNTRY REPORT: BELGIUM 18
19 COUNTRY REPORT: BELGIUM