“We Were Convicted for Our Opinions” – Vlaams Belang MEP Tells BNPtv a Familiar Story
The Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang is persecuted in exactly the same way that the British establishment attempts to destroy the British National Party, one of its Members of the European Parliament Philip Claeys has said. |
| Philip Claeys |
Speaking in a video interview with BNPtv, Mr Claeys told of how the Vlaams Blok – the predecessor to his current party, Vlaams Belang – was banned by the Belgian courts for simply holding different opinions to those of the state.
“They changed the law explicitly in order to convict us. They changed the law several times,” Mr Claeys told Nick Griffin and Simon Darby.
“It was a scandal, because we didn’t actually do anything that was against the law. We were convicted for our opinions.”
After the Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block) was outlawed in 2004, its members formed the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) in the same year. The new party became the single largest party in elections held six months after those events, has two seats in the European Parliament and has representation at all levels of Belgian government.
However, persecution of the Vlaams Belang continues today. Party members are not allowed to join trade unions in Belgium, which, under that country’s laws, also means they cannot receive unemployment benefit, Mr Claeys revealed.
The political system in Belgium is currently beset with problems due to its forced cohabitation of two distinct peoples, the Flemings and the Walloons.
“Belgium is two countries within one country. It is an artificial country. It doesn’t work anymore,” said Mr Claeys.
“If you want to know the future of the European Union, you have to look at Belgium now.”
Watch the video interview from BNPtv below:
