The Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang has invited French MEP and president of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, to speak at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, sparking calls for a protest, Belga News Agency reports.
The leader of Vlaams Belang, Tom Van Grieken, has invited controversial figures to Belgium several times in the past. "Remember Steve Bannon, the controversial figure of the American far right, or Marine Le Pen, from the same National Rally as Jordan Bardella," said the political journalist Ivan De Vadder during the De Ochtend Radio 1 programme on Thursday morning. This time, Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right National Rally, will be taking the floor on Thursday evening.
The links between Vlaams Belang and the National Rally go back a long way, De Vadder said. "Both parties are among the oldest radical right-wing movements in Europe. Their relations are therefore long-standing and solid. Moreover, Vlaams Belang MEP Gerolf Annemans maintains excellent contacts with the French."
The two parties also seek to draw inspiration from each other's electoral successes. "According to the latest De Stemming poll, Vlaams Belang is not doing particularly well in Flanders, whereas the National Rally made it through to the second round of the presidential election in France and also has several mayors in its ranks," De Vadder added.
Bardella's conference is unlikely, however, to go ahead without protest. "Several organisations have already called for demonstrations against his visit," concludes Ivan De Vadder.
Call for protest
A coalition of 47 trade unions and anti-fascist organisations called on Wednesday for action against Bardella's visit. The City of Brussels has said that security measures will be deployed to protect the area around the institution.
"We oppose this visit and refuse to allow our political institutions to serve as a winter palace for far-right figures kept at arm's length from the Belgian political debate by the cordon sanitaire," said the signatories of the appeal, including trade unions, anti-fascist collectives, human rights organisations and feminist groups.
They stated that the RN and its leaders are pursuing a political agenda "based on the stigmatisation of foreigners, people of colour, Muslims, workers with or without papers, and more broadly all those whom the far right designates as enemies from within".
The collective is calling for a gathering "as large as possible" at 18:00 on Place Madou. "Gathering together, occupying public space, turning out in force, raising the alarm, speaking out, organising solidarity and refusing to accept the normalisation of fascism are our legitimate means of democratic defence," according to their statement.
RN president Jordan Bardella poses with a fan during the book signing of 'Ce que je cherche'. Credit: Belga / Benoit Doppagne
The City of Brussels told Belga News Agency that police would organise a security operation to protect the perimeter of the "neutral zone" around the Flemish Parliament, where demonstrations are banned or strictly regulated.
When asked about any specific measures regarding the gathering at Place Madou, the spokesperson for Mayor Philippe Close (PS) said that the police would "ensure the gathering proceeds smoothly so that the organisations can peacefully express their opposition" to Bardella's visit.
'Under-represented' far-right
Bardella's visit comes as the audiovisual regulator, Arcom, announced on Thursday that it was issuing a formal notice to Radio France for the "under-representation" of the RN during daytime hours from January to the end of March, with the public broadcaster attributing this to a "technical error", Belga News Agency reported.
"Nearly 60% of the airtime allocated to RN representatives on France Inter was broadcast between midnight and 05:59," and more than 70% on France Info from 1 January to 31 March, Arcom noted in a statement, arguing that this constitutes "breaches of the rules on political pluralism".
This period covers the campaign for the local elections, which took place on 15 and 22 March. For its part, Radio France explained that it had changed its software in January to record airtime and that the new system did not distinguish between day and night. The issue has reportedly now been fixed.
"Supposed to demonstrate political pluralism and impartiality, the public broadcasting service has therefore knowingly sidelined France's leading party and its millions of voters," Bardella said. Former party leader Marine Le Pen added that this behaviour was "no longer tolerable".
