Bart De Wever, leader of the Flemish right-wing N-VA party, is not willing to govern with the far-right Vlaams Belang party after the elections, he said during a political debate following the first political science lecture at Ghent University this year.
During a debate with Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken, socialist Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau and radical left PVDA-PTB leader Raoul Hedebouw, students asked De Wever and Rousseau if they were willing to negotiate with Vlaams Belang if there was no alternative.
"I have already answered that question several times. With the way [Vlaams Belang] exists now? No, never, nowhere," De Wever said. "But a party can change. And you always have to listen to the will of the voter. But as far as I am concerned, it is a 'no' on principle, and principles do not depend on the election results."
After stating that "you always have to take the voter's judgment into account," De Wever said that, above all, he wants to avoid that situation. "Everyone must do their utmost to ensure that it does not get to that point, not for the far-left, not for the far-right. But as far as I am concerned: preferably not."
'Back to the Middle Ages'
In response, Van Grieken urged him to "wait for what voters have to say" during the elections next year. "But the coach from another team is not going to determine my line-up."
Rousseau kept it simple and said that he would "never collaborate with the extreme-right," asking Van Grieken to name one country in the world where the extreme-right is in power and prosperity and freedom are improving. As Van Grieken mentioned Italy, Rousseau immediately hit back stating that he asked about improving freedom.
"What does [Italian Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni do first? Reverse abortion and euthanasia, back to the Middle Ages. Those are apparently the major problems of our world. And she is taking away the rights of gay couples to their own children. If Vlaams Belang stands for that, I will never work with them. People will be going backwards."
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In 1989, Belgian political parties agreed to form a so-called cordon sanitaire around Vlaams Belang (then still called Vlaams Blok) by agreeing not to form a coalition with them, because of the party's racist rhetoric – effectively blocking it from entering any level of government.
The party rebranded itself as Vlaams Belang in 2004 after it was convicted of breaching the anti-racism law, but the political cordon sanitaire still remains in place.
