Extremists in Belgium’s Upcoming Elections

Extremism has become a major issue in campaigning for Belgium’s local elections this Sunday, notably in the country’s Dutch speaking region.

Extremism of various kinds are in the mix. After right-wing parties were accused of selecting candidates with far-right sympathies, they started hunting for hidden Islamists and Turkish ultra-nationalists in more left-wing parties, with a certain degree of success.

It started with a documentary by the Dutch language public broadcaster VRT early last month, when a movement of young Flemish nationalists which had been considered harmless was exposed as a truly dangerous group.

The movement’s name is ‘Schild en Vrienden’, or ‘Shield and Friends’. This is a reference to the battle cry of Flemish fighters during a clash with the French – seen as oppressors – more than 700 years ago.

None of its neatly dressed members resemble the skinheads and street fighters formerly known as the most radical elements of the Flemish far-right. Albeit unofficially, they were even allowed to maintain order when the federal secretary of state Theo Francken from the right-wing N-VA party made a speech. [1]

Behind the scenes, however, they turned out to be genuine racists, often close to neo-Nazism. Furthermore, while some of them proudly posed with firearms in their secret chat groups, their leader Dries Van Langenhove aired his far-reaching plans. “The day of violence will come”, he said, “and I know which side will be ready for that.”

This longing for a civil war where the political right will prevail looks quite similar to the angry citizens group ‘Action des forces opérationelles’, which was dismantled in France earlier this year on suspicion of terrorist planning. [2]

Shortly after the revealing VRT documentary was aired, the Belgian judiciary started an investigation, resulting in several house searches and interrogations, but no arrests to date. [3]

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