Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Right-Wing Party Threatens To Abolish Belgium
The Daily Telegraph ^ | May 17, 2003 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Posted on 05/16/2003 5:24:05 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

French-speaking enemies call him a "designer fascist", with his air of having just stepped off a plane from San Francisco.

Filip Dewinter, the strongman of the Vlaams Blok, the Right-wing anti-immigration party that is poised to do well in tomorrow's Belgian election, is a man who provokes that sort of angry reaction.

His Flemish front poses a mortal threat to the Belgian state and the welfare apparatus that keeps the French-speaking regions afloat.


Filip Dewinter

Each year, the Dutch-speaking majority in the north pay a bigger share of GDP to subsidise their former masters in Wallonia than the west Germans transfer to their cousins in the eastern Lander.

Mr Dewinter intends to put a stop to this by abolishing Belgium, which was created by Lord Palmerston in the early 1830s, against the wishes of both tribes. He wants to carve out an independent Flemish state which he says should be aligned with the "Anglo-Saxon world".

The Blok has risen so far, so fast, from its murky origins in Waffen SS nostalgia that it could become the biggest Flemish party in tomorrow's election, shattering the cosy coalitions that have run Belgium for half a century and slavishly followed Paris in European Union politics. The Blok already has 33 per cent of the vote in the Flemish bastion of Antwerp.

At a Blok "family day" in rural Limburg, 2,000 beer-drinkers - Antwerp dockers and Phillips workers from the factory in nearby Hasselt - gathered in the rain waving the party banner, "Eigen Volk Eerst"(Our People First). A speaker wound up the crowd with a stream of insults about Elio Di Rupo, the bow-tied, openly homosexual Walloon leader.

Mr Dewinter praised President George W Bush for dealing with Saddam Hussein and told me in good English: "The chief threat to the world now is radical Islam. They were taught a lesson by the Iraq war that they must take the West seriously. They thought we were very soft and tolerant but they now see we can hit back when necessary."

Like neighbouring Rotterdam, power base of the murdered Dutch populist Pim Fortuyn, Mr Dewinter's home town, Antwerp, has become a multicultural powder keg, a recruiting centre for al-Qa'eda.

Last year, a former Hizbollah fighter from Lebanon, Abou Jahjah, led race riots that charged through the shopping district, allegedly smashing the windows of those who failed to pay protection money.

Children of ultra-orthodox Jews are preyed upon by North African gangs on their way to school and now have to walk in groups.

"We are seeing the first pogroms in Belgium since World War Two," Mr Dewinter said.

"How can this be happening in a democratic country? We've got the most Left-wing citizenship laws in Europe that lets people have nationality after three years, even if they come illegally.

"What the Labour Party has been doing in England is to the point. We've got to stop non-European immigrants coming in from the Third World. Those who are already here should have to assimilate or go back."

For the Blok, mass immigration means more Algerians or Moroccans who speak French and gravitate into the "enemy" camp.

It is hard to separate the language war from the questions of race.

So where does the Blok fit on the Right-wing spectrum that runs from Germany's skinheads, to Jean-Marie Le Pen's anti-semitic Front National, to sleek "post-fascists" such as Italy's Alleanza Nazionale, to Fortuyn's gay, feminist, free-market, anti-Muslim mish-mash?

Most Flemish nationalists welcomed the Nazis as liberators in 1940, believing Hitler would create a Flemish state. Thousands volunteered for SS divisions to fight Bolshevism on the Eastern Front. The state later sentenced 2,940 to death for treachery, imprisoned 70,000 and charged 405,000 with collaboration, punishing five per cent of all Belgians. The Vlaams Blok, founded in 1978, is led by their children.

Perhaps a ruling elite that has still not put Marc Dutroux on trial - for fear of what he might reveal - seven years after he starved young girls to death in chains in his dungeons, should ask itself why the Vlaams Blok is running away with the votes.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: belgium; conservative; dutch; eu; europeanunion; flemish; french; immigration; rustleinbrussels; vlaamsblok
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-53 next last
To: Cicero
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, whose work I respect, takes a petty tough anti-Nazi line here. I suspect that the history of the Flemish region was like much of the rest of Europe: caught between the Nazis on one side and the Bolsheviks on the other. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

There were some hard core Nazi's in Belgium who were Flemish. However, there were Nazi Walloons as well. The Waloonian (sp?) Leon Degrelle is one of the most famous non-German Nazis. He was temorarily the head of Nazi occupied Beligum for a the few weeks after the start of the Battle of The Bulge.

Yes, the Flemings were more welcoming to the Nazi's then the Walloons were overall, but there is a good reason for that. The Walloons had always oppressed the Flemish. The Walloos did not allow them to have Flemish schools, etc. During World War I, the Germans allowed the Flemish to have their owns schools, local governments, etc. Of course, when World War I was over, the Walloons went right back to oppressing the Flemish. So, it's no surprise that when the Germans came back in 1940 many Flemings weren't too upset about it.

But that's the extent of it. Otherwise, this is just the usual Nazi slur.

21 posted on 05/16/2003 5:58:56 PM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Cicero
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, whose work I respect

Cicero, your comments/posting speak for you. I don't know this guy, but knowing the Flemish (I work with a couple of colleagues, the wife grew up in Antwerp, and we spend time there when possible) I find the tone here offensive. What is different here?

22 posted on 05/16/2003 5:58:58 PM PDT by Eala ("We don't see it as a 'quota', we see it as a 'performance standard'")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: freethinkingman
Well at least I know where I'm movin when hillary becomes the President... LOL.

I'd actually considered it. I like Antwerp. (I don't speak Vlaams, but that can be rectified.) But a (native) friend there advised against it. OTOH, should it become part of a Flemish state, *that* would be different.

23 posted on 05/16/2003 6:04:18 PM PDT by Eala ("We don't see it as a 'quota', we see it as a 'performance standard'")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
From the CIA Factbook:

Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11%

Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25%

Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)

24 posted on 05/16/2003 6:08:20 PM PDT by Gritty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
Quote of the Day by Free ThinkerNY
25 posted on 05/16/2003 6:09:31 PM PDT by RJayneJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cicero
I lived in Belgium from 1995-1998, during the Dutroux affair. Politics in the "nation" are very complicated, and as in most of Europe, history is quite a burden. I knew Walloons who told me that all the Flemings had collaborated with the Nazis; it was true that there were many more monuments to the US Army in Waloonia (Bastogne and a number of well-tended cemetaries) than in Flanders. On the other hand, a die hard group of SS Nazi Walloons were the last Nazi defenders of the Reichstag. The Flemings have some legitimate grips about Walloon domination, and the (gay) Walloon politician mentioned in the article was named in the Dutroux affair, but still holds power. I did, however, find the Blok campaign literature to be offensive (I was a "guest worker" myself, and some of the gross cartoons they criculated could be taken as threatening against foreigners). Belgium's real problem is just what the article implied, it is an artificial nation that was meant to be a buffer between Germany and France; maybe that's what makes Brussels the perfect "Capital of Europe".
26 posted on 05/16/2003 6:10:05 PM PDT by Martin Tell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
The Blok has risen so far, so fast, from its murky origins in Waffen SS nostalgia...

Translation: Someone found a picture of Dewinter at age 7, wearing an SS uniform on Halloween.

27 posted on 05/16/2003 6:13:09 PM PDT by Timesink
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eala
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard wrote one of the early exposes of the Toon, "The Secret Life Of Bill Clinton". He might even have freeped before he went back to the UK.

yitbos

28 posted on 05/16/2003 6:21:36 PM PDT by bruinbirdman (Anyone remember the DITHF hoax?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
No wonder this guy is popular, he has the right ideas. But what's that crack about San Francisco, are they trying to intimate he's gay? They're saying he's like a "gay nazi"? If he's gay then the liberal, left-wingers should like him.
29 posted on 05/16/2003 6:22:23 PM PDT by Contra
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gritty
Henri Pirenne, famous Belgian historian, rationalized Belgium's existence by claiming that Belgium's historical roots lie in 'Lotharingia'(sp?), the rump of Lothair's portion of his Grampa Charlemagne's Empire.

Pretty thin stuff, actually. Belgium's a place for the Germans to water their horses on the way to France.

And for Canadians to die driving the Germans home.
30 posted on 05/16/2003 6:41:50 PM PDT by headsonpikes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Dark Wing
ping
31 posted on 05/16/2003 6:58:12 PM PDT by Thud
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xJones
So the Walloons pay more money than West Germans did to repatriot East Germans?

Actually the Walloons are the French speaking minority in the south. The folks paying too much (more than west Germans pay to subsidize east Germans) are the Flemish.

My biggest problem with this is the smarmy insinuation that the Flemish Belgians welcomed the Nazi's. My wife's step mother was 16 when the Nazi's conquered her small town in north central Belgium (Flanders). She tells stories of risking being executed by saving her sugar rations to pour into the German's staff cars. They didn't welcome the Germans, they just had no choice because their masters (the Walloons) had followed the post World War 1 pacifist policies of most of Europe.

Belgium as a country is a joke. Every Belgian school child, French speaking Walloon or Flemish speaking Flander, learns both languages in school as a requirement of graduation. They each then refuse to acknowledge that they know the "other" language for the rest of their lives. That's why most business in Belgium, at least between Flemish and Walloons, is conducted in English.

An independent Flanders would be a feisty little addition to the mix in the EU. Their favorite symbols are the Manika Piss (little boy pissing, famous fountain in Brussells) and the Confederate battle flag.

32 posted on 05/16/2003 7:00:37 PM PDT by Phsstpok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
I remember hearing that Dr. Evil was taught to be evil by a Belgian couple in the third Austin Power's movie,"Goldmember."
33 posted on 05/16/2003 7:03:22 PM PDT by Captain Shady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
Perhaps a ruling elite that has still not put Marc Dutroux on trial - for fear of what he might reveal - seven years after he starved young girls to death in chains in his dungeons, should ask itself why the Vlaams Blok is running away with the votes.

I should have known the pedophocracy spoke French.

34 posted on 05/16/2003 7:21:08 PM PDT by xm177e2 (Stalinists, Maoists, Ba'athists, Pacifists: Why are they always on the same side?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xm177e2
CrimeLibrary.com/Serial Killers/Sexual Predators/Marc Dutroux

yitbos

35 posted on 05/16/2003 7:41:47 PM PDT by bruinbirdman (Anyone remember the DITHF hoax?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
I wonder if having their Embassy bombed by the Muslims will have an effect on the election?
36 posted on 05/16/2003 8:18:37 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Soddom has left the bunker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Loyalist
If successful, would anybody notice?
37 posted on 05/16/2003 8:21:06 PM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: headsonpikes
Actually, Lotharingia is named for Lothair II (855-869), son of Lothair I (emperor and ruler of the Middle Kingdom, 840-855). Lothair I was a son of Louis the Pious and a grandson of Charlemagne.

Belgium exists because the Spanish armies in the 16th century were able to control the southern provinces but not to subdue the northern provinces, which became the independent Netherlands. The southern provinces were the Spanish Netherlands until 1713, then handed over to Austria. They were conquered by the French during the Revolutionary period. After the defeat of Napoleon, Belgium was added to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the idea being to strengthen the countries on France's borders) but the Belgians were dissatisfied and rebelled against Dutch rule in 1830. That led to the creation of an independent Belgium.

Winston Churchill was critical of the Belgian government during the months before the German attack in 1940--they refused to allow French and British armies to enter the country in anticipation of the German attack that they knew was coming: "the Belgian King and his Army staff merely waited, hoping that all would turn out well." Had the French and British troops been in Belgium, the German invasion would have been much more difficult to execute.

Belgium last had historic significance in the 1988 election, when Michael Dukakis made Belgian endive a campaign issue.

38 posted on 05/16/2003 8:30:23 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman; section9; Dog Gone; blam; JohnHuang2
No tin foil, just remembering what happened in Holland; the Left will murder DeWinter if it appears that he will be able to turn politics against them.
39 posted on 05/16/2003 8:41:02 PM PDT by Southack (Media bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Southack
Pim Fortune?
40 posted on 05/16/2003 8:41:41 PM PDT by Southack (Media bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-53 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson