Vlaams Blok was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism,calling for the independence of Flanders.
The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal views. The party is a member of the Liberal Group,Renew Europe,and Liberal International.
Christian Democratic and Flemish is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism (ACV) and trade associations (UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001,the party was named the Christian People's Party.
The New Flemish Alliance is a Flemish nationalist,conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU).
Flanders is both a cultural community and an economic region within the Belgian state,and has significant autonomy.
Yves Camille DésiréLeterme is a Belgian politician,a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He was the prime minister of Belgium from March 2008 to December 2008,and later from November 2009 to December 2011.
Frank Arthur Hyppolite Vanhecke is a Belgian politician. Vanhecke started his career in Belgian politics as a student by joining the Jong Studentenverbond and later the Nationalistische Studentenvereniging. He gave up his membership of the Volksunie in 1977 after it acceded to a much-debated package of federal reforms. Vanhecke subsequently joined the Vlaams Nationale Partij,the predecessor of the Vlaams Blok.
Flemish political parties operate in the whole Flemish Community,which covers the unilingual Flemish Region and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. In the latter,they compete with French-speaking parties that all also operate in Wallonia. There are very few parties that operate on a national level in Belgium. Flanders generally tends to vote for right-wing,conservative parties,whereas in French-speaking Belgium the socialist party is usually the most successful one.
The draining law or Belgian dry up law (droogleggingswet) refers to a controversial law passed by the Belgian Federal Parliament in 2005 to cut funding by the federal state to "undemocratic" parties. Due to restrictions against campaign donations from private groups or individuals,Belgian political parties rely mostly on the state for funding.
Geert Albert Bourgeois is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA),which he founded in 2001,who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously served as the Minister-President of Flanders from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this,he was a member of the federal Chamber of Representatives for the People's Union from 1995 to 2001,and then for the N-VA from 2001 to 2004. He has been involved in local and regional politics in Flanders since 1976.
The Leterme I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 20 March 2008 to 22 December 2008. It took office when the Flemish Christian democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Belgian general election of 2007 and comprised five parties:the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V),the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats,the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR),the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH).
Steven Vanackere is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II government. He is the son of Leo Vanackere,who,following a political career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of Belgium,became the Provincial Governor of West Flanders in 1979. His grandfather,Remi Wallays,had also been a senator and had been a former Mayor of Wevelgem.
Jan Jambon is a Belgian businessman and politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) who served as Minister-President of Flanders from 2019 to 2024. He replaced Kris Peeters as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2007. The N-VA was,at that time,partnered with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish party. In June 2010 and May 2014 he was re-elected on an N-VA list.
The 2019 Belgian regional elections took place on Sunday 26 May,the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election as well as the Belgian federal election.
Wivina Demeester-De Meyer is a Belgian politician who served as a Member of the Flemish Parliament and its predecessor bodies between 1974 and 1995 and 1999 and 2004;she also held various ministerial posts in the national and Flemish governments.
Dirk De fauw is a Belgian politician of the CD&V party. He is the son of Hilaire De fauw,a politician of the CVP who was municipal councilor of Sint-Andries,provincial councilor in West Flanders and deputy of the same province. Dirk De fauw studied law and is a lawyer.
Leo Delcroix was a Belgian Flemish politician. He was a member of the Christian People's Party (CVP).
Jan Bertels is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of Vooruit,he has represented Antwerp since June 2024. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Representatives from June 2019 to November 2020. He was a member of the Flemish Parliament from June 2014 to May 2019.
Joris Vandenbroucke is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of Vooruit,he has represented East Flanders since June 2019. He was a member of the Flemish Parliament from June 2005 to June 2009 and from June 2014 to May 2019.
