National Conservatism meeting cancelled in Belgium. “Extreme right not welcome”

Brussels – Nationalist and extreme right-wingers of Europe: the summit won’t happen. While in progress, the meeting of National Conservatism (NatCon), the platform that brings together exponents of Euro-critical nationalist forces, is cancelled and closed. A kermis that brings together the Belgians of Vlaams Belang (allies of the Lega in the European Parliament, in the ID group), the Poles of Law and Justice (allies of Fratelli d’Italia also in the European Parliament, in the conservative ECR group), the French ultra-right represented by Reconquête and its leader, Eric Zemmour, and then “the champion of Brexit,” Nigel Farage.

Police intervened after Emir Kir, the socialist mayor of Sint-Josse, one of Brussels’ municipalities, signed the order to end the gathering. He barged in while Farage was speaking and was forced to leave the stage. “What happened, the stop of a peaceful political event makes me even more convinced than ever about Brexit,” the Briton commented.

The mayor explains that he wanted to “prevent any public order problems from being caused by this controversial meeting,” the statement offered to the Belgian press, and for that reason “police officers in the area were ordered to immediately go to the scene to enforce the ordinance” and stop the National Conservatism conference. But then came the tweet of controversy: “In Etterbek, Sint-Josse and Brussels city, the far right is not welcome.”

A message that got the right-wingers up in arms, starting with the Lega’s delegation in the European Parliament: “What the mayor of Brussels has decided, deliberately revoking permits for a conference just because it is distant from his political views, is extremely serious and worrying. Is this democracy?”

The incident is likely to strengthen euro-sceptic forces and their narrative during the election campaigning that will mark the European elections in early June. However, what happened did not prevent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki from giving their speeches; they moved to the European Parliament. The Conservative Group (ECR) invited them inside the institution for a public meeting.