With the offensive against the National Conservatism Conference, the European and local authorities in Brussels are inventing a fascist peril under pressure from extremist organisations.
The organisation of the second NatCon in Brussels is in a state of flux. After twice being forced to change venues, the organisers of the conference, which opened on Tuesday, April 16th in the Belgian capital, are now under a police blockade preventing any new speakers from entering. Participants and speakers are being subjected to what amounts to a state of siege, since the service providers responsible for supplying the conference venue are also clearly barred from entering.
Reviews of the event in the French-language Belgian press are revealing of the state of psychosis of those seeking to have the conservative gathering banned. “Europe’s far-right meets in Saint-Josse”, ran the headline in the mass-circulation newspaper Le Soir.
According to Sud Info, a local media outlet, the mayor of Saint Josse, the municipality in the Brussels conurbation where the conference centre hosting the meeting is located, stressed the importance of avoiding “any public disorder” and reiterated his categorical refusal to accept the organisation of “any event with fascist tendencies in his municipality.” No doubt Suella Braverman, former Interior Minister in the Truss and Sunak governments, will appreciate the qualifiers.
The mayor finally declared that he had issued a decree banning the event and guaranteeing public safety.
The police, who arrived on the scene at the end of the morning, apparently had no intention of evacuating the building, but remain on duty, preventing anyone from coming or going. The public cannot enter, and anyone who leaves the conference cannot re-enter. “For operational reasons, the police did not evacuate the hall”, read a report in the Belgian press.
As far as disturbances to public order were concerned, none were reported. The debates and discussions were conducted in an orderly and calm manner. The threat of chaos is due to an announcement by the Anti-Fascist Coalition, which has announced that it intends to arrive on the scene at the end of the day. In these circumstances, the need to guarantee “public safety” is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Aymeric de Lamotte, from the Thomas More Institute, reveals on X that Emir Kir, of Turkish origin, is known for his sympathies for the Turkish far right, i.e. the Islamists who surround Erdoğan. But it would seem that this kind of extremism is also present in Brussels. Éric Zemmour, who was due to speak in the middle of the afternoon but was prevented from entering, accused the police of using a private militia to silence a political discourse of which he disapproved:
The reasons for banning the conference are clearly and openly political, as the municipal by-law develops, accusing the participants of being in favour of national sovereignty, which implies a “Eurosceptic” attitude—an opinion, which we learn, on occasion, is now liable to police intervention.
It remains to be seen whether the second day of the conference can be held normally. As the conference is being held in a private venue, the police do not normally have the authority to order a ban, the organisers have argued. The stand-off continues.
