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 party originated from split within the Volksunie (VU) party after the right-wing separatist and national conservative wing became disgruntled with the compromise of accepting Belgian federalism over Flemish interests, and what they saw as the VU's move to the left. The former VU members created the Flemish National Party (VNP) and the Flemish People's Party (VVP) which formed an electoral alliance called Vlaams Blok in 1978, before merging to create Vlaams Blok as a political party in 1979. Vlaams Blok was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement and its track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliament elections was strong, making it one of the most successful nationalist parties in Western Europe and it ultimately surpassed the People's Union in support. The party initially focused solely on the issues of Flemish autonomy and political freedom, which remained its core philosophy, but subsequently gained wider public support through broadening its campaigns to include immigration and law-and-order themes.
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.
Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter is a Belgian politician, journalist and commentator. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party.
Hugo F.V. Coveliers is a retired Belgian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives between 1985 and 1995, and from 1993 to 2003. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Belgian Senate. He was a parliamentary chairman for the VLD in both chambers, from 1999 to 2003.
Vlaams Belang is a Flemish nationalist, and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered to be on the political far-right.
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.
Gerolf Emma Jozef Annemans is a Belgian lawyer, journalist and politician of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang (VB) and formerly of its predecessor, the Vlaams Blok. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, and a city councilor in Antwerp since 2000. He served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives from 1987 to 2014, and as a city councilor in Brasschaat from 1994 to 2000. He was the former leader of the VB from 2012 to 2014, and led the Vlaams Blok and VB parliamentary groups from 1991 to 2013.
Anke Maria Flor Van dermeersch is a Belgian politician, former model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 1991 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1992 where she placed Top 6. She later entered politics for the Vlaams Blok party, since 2004 Vlaams Belang, being elected as a senator in 2003.
VLOTT is a minor Belgian right-wing liberal or fortuynist political party. Its title, VLOTT, is an acronym for "Flemish, Liberal, Independent, Tolerant, Transparent". It was founded on 23 November 2005 by ex-Open VLD member Hugo Coveliers. It participated in a list-cartel with the Vlaams Belang in the October 2006 Antwerp municipal elections and in selected provincial, municipal and district elections elsewhere in Flanders. Despite the popularity of their founder in Antwerp the shared effort of the cartel-partners did only result in a small 0.5 percent win, with no extra seat in the city-council. In 2007, VLOTT did not participate in the general elections, but their candidates appeared as independents on the Vlaams Belang ballots. Only founder Hugo Coveliers was elected to the Belgian Senate. After Coveliers withdrawal from active politics early 2012 Vlaams Belang stopped its cooperation with the party.
Hans Van Themsche is a Belgian student who, on 11 March, 2006, shot three people, killing two and severely injuring another, before being shot by police and incapacitated. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2008.
Jurgen Ceder is a Belgian politician and a member of the N-VA. He was first elected as a member of the Belgian Senate in 1995 for the Vlaams Blok party. In 2009, he became group leader in the senate for Vlaams Belang. In July 2012 he became a member of N-VA. Because he was associated with the 70-point plan drawn up with the Vlaams Blok party, it caused dissatisfaction among other prominent members of N-VA with some members calling on the party not to adopt him as a candidate.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
Johan Deckmyn and Vrijheidsfonds VZW vs Helena Vandersteen, Christiane Vandersteen, Liliana Vandersteen, Isabelle Vandersteen, Rita Dupont, Amoras II CVOH and WPG Uitgevers België is a preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice. The reference concerned what conditions must be met for a derivative work to be considered a parody. Parodies are allowed under the Information Society Directive, in those countries that have indicated to apply the parody exception. The European Court of Justice indicated that the definition of the copyright exceptions was consistent throughout the EU and that to qualify the work must "evoke an existing work, while being noticeably different from it, and secondly, to constitute an expression of humour or mockery". The humour or mockery does not need to be directed towards the work itself, but it can also be mockery of something/someone else. When considering a parody-case the court should strike a fair balance between the rights of the rights holders of the original work, as the maker of the parody.
Tom Jozef Irène Van Grieken is a Belgian politician and author who has served as leader of Vlaams Belang since October 2014.
In the run up to the 2024 Belgian federal election, various organisations carry out opinion polling to gauge voting intention in Belgium. The date range for these polls are from the 2019 Belgian federal election, held on 25 May, to the present day. The results of nationwide polls are usually numerically split into the three Belgian regions: Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. Federal seat projections for the Chamber of Representatives are presented together under these regional polls. The federal election will be part of a group of elections which also include the regional elections and the European elections, some polls might be undefined voting intentions without differentiating between the elections.
Guy August Marie-Louise D'haeseleer is a Belgian politician who has served as the Senate leader for Vlaams Belang since 2014 and is chairman of Forza Ninove, the local chapter of Vlaams Belang in the city of Ninove.
Barbara Pas is a Belgian politician and a member of the Chamber of Representatives for Vlaams Belang. She is also the floor leader of the party in the Chamber and serves as the spokeswoman for the VB on a federal level. Pas previously served as national chairwoman of the Vlaams Belang Jongeren.
Adeline Blancquaert is a Belgian-Flemish politician for Vlaams Belang who has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 2019.
Leo Pieters is a Belgian politician for Vlaams Belang.
Frank Beno Mariano Creyelman is a Belgian former politician of Vlaams Belang.
