A coalition of 47 associations and trade unions in Belgium is opposing the invitation extended to Jordan Bardella, leader of the French far-right National Rally party, to address the Flemish Parliament on 11 June.
The associations are calling for a rally in Brussels that is “as large and popular as possible” to protest against what it describes as the “normalisation of the far right”.
The event is being organised at the invitation of the Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang party – a move the organisations condemn, arguing that parliamentary institutions should not host representatives of the far right.
They cite, in particular, Belgium's principle of the cordon sanitaire (the political agreement to exclude far-right parties from any political majority).
The collective also criticises the positions of the National Rally, which it accuses of stigmatising certain groups and undermining social rights.
The signatories are calling for a rally in Brussels that is “as large and popular as possible”, in order to demonstrate their opposition to this visit and to what they see as the normalisation of the far-right within institutions.
