Flemish nationalists seek revenge for Belgian shut-out

Belgium’s Flemish nationalists may be locked out of power, but they see the country’s new center-left government as a rallying cry for their cause.

Seven parties formed a center-left government last week led by Flemish Liberal Alexander De Croo, after just under 500 days of political haggling to form a coalition large enough to hold a parliamentary majority.

To some, the broad coalition is proof that Belgium — which holds the record of longest government formation period in a Western democracy — still masters the art of the political deal. Governing parties presented an image of positivity, hoping to overcome the hardball politics that has pitted major parties against each other, especially across the language border that divides the small country. They know the pressure is on to show that mainstream politics can actually deliver.

But in the northern region of Flanders, the country’s two largest parties see the coalition as something very different: Another dismissal of separatists’ and right wingers’ demands.

“They waited so long to form a government, thinking voters would forget what the outcome of the election was,” said Tom Van Grieken, leader of the far-right Flemish Interest party. “People think it’s a scandal the signal of voters was simply swept aside.”

“Having the two largest parties [in terms of number of votes] in opposition, and a prime minister that belongs to the seventh-largest party, it might work constitutionally … but it’s not logical” — Theo Francken, former migration minister

In striking their deal, De Croo’s coalition blocked the northern half’s two largest parties from power.

Flemish Interest, which is closely aligned with other far-right forces in Europe including France’s National Rally and Italy’s League, won big in 2019’s federal, regional and European election. The New Flemish Alliance, a broader conservative party that aligns itself with parties like Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) at EU level, managed to maintain its spot as the country’s largest party despite dropping 5 percentage points.

Together these two parties — both in favor of an independent Flemish state — make up 48 percent of Flemish votes and 43 out of 150 seats in the federal parliament.

“The way we were forced into opposition was not right. Having the two largest parties [in terms of number of votes] in opposition, and a prime minister that belongs to the seventh-largest party, it might work constitutionally … but it’s not logical. It doesn’t sit well,” said Theo Francken, a key figure in the New Flemish Alliance and former migration minister.

Flanders’ right-wing opposition now has its eyes set on thwarting the government’s plans while plotting revenge at the ballot box in four years’ time.

“I have the clear ambition to become the largest political party in 2024,” said far-right leader Van Grieken.

The far right staged a large-scale “protest ride” just days before the government deal was struck, gathering some 10,000 Flemish-flag-waving supporters on the outskirts of Brussels to rail against the center-left plan.

The New Flemish Alliance, too, feels Belgium’s ruling coalition is headed for a day of reckoning in Flanders. “I think it will be very hard to sell [De Croo’s] left-wing, progressive project in Flanders,” Francken said. “Right now, a lot of people might be relieved there is a government … but the political undertow in Flanders is center-right,” he said, projecting that the center-left coalition will further push voters toward separatist parties.

The art of the deal

The new government’s early optimism masks a deep understanding that it will have to restore trust in mainstream politics in Belgium.

Maggie De Block, Flemish Liberal faction whip in the federal parliament and former minister for health and migration, said voters had grown “disappointed, angry and disengaged.”

“We went too long without a government … Now we have to make up for that by governing quickly and powerfully,” she said.

Prime Minister De Croo’s coalition has already set down two ways to counter the criticism that it would be against Flemish interests. One is that it wants to lay the groundwork to reform the state’s institutional structure — one of the most complex in the world — after 2024. Another is that it appointed a junior minister with a more hardline approach to managing the migration portfolio, undercutting a key point of criticism from the right.

And to some extent, De Croo has the right-wing opposition to thank for his own prime ministership. In the final days of negotiations, the largest power in the coalition, the French-speaking Socialist Party, realized that putting a French speaker at the helm of the government would only deepen Flanders’ right-wing grievances and further deepen the country’s political, cultural and linguistic divide.

“It would have been difficult to justify the absence of the two largest parties in Flanders and on top of that appoint a French-speaking prime minister,” said Pascal Delwit, professor of political science at the Free University of Brussels.

Coalition parties put forward a series of new, young faces as government representatives and promised to transcend the polarization and distrust.

Above all, coalition parties put forward a series of new, young faces as government representatives and promised to transcend the polarization and distrust that has taken over the country’s politics in past years. But they should expect fierce opposition from the Flemish right wing.

“They’re portraying a sense of optimism, some kind of ‘Kumbaya’ feeling. They want to do things differently. But the fact is that the foundations aren’t there, a lot of this is hot air,” said Geert Bourgeois, member of the European Parliament for the New Flemish Alliance.

Barbara Moens contributed reporting.