A march against the so-called far right in Brussels culminated in an attack on the headquarters of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang on Sunday, while a nearby crowd rallied against populist electoral advances in last week’s European, local, and national elections across Belgium.
Hundreds of masked activists split off from a larger self-styled ‘anti-fascist’ demonstration through the Belgian capital shortly after 1 p.m. The party’s premises were left heavily defaced when the authorities failed to protect the entrance of the multi-story building.
Despite the brazen and likely premeditated nature of the attack, Belgian media reports no arrests as having been made by local police. Smoke bombs, paint, and eggs were hurled at the party headquarters, leaving the front of the building badly damaged.
The rally was organised by the Francophone collective “Coordination Antifasciste de Belgique.” Authorities estimated the actual number of event participants as 4,500, less than half the 10,000 claimed by the demonstrators.
Leftists are reacting against the electoral rise of Vlaams Belang, which saw their vote share increase in Belgium’s national and EU elections. The party almost entered a coalition government with the centre-right N-VA in the Flemish Parliament.
“The constantly advocated ‘tolerance’ of our opponents is as limitless as it is hypocritical,” complied party vice chair Chris Janssens. Vlaams Belang activists have undergone multiple instances of legal harassment over the past year on hate speech charges.
This is not the first time Vlaams Belang has faced persecution.; in 2019, its same building was attacked by left-wing radicals. The party only formed in 2004 after its political precursor, Vlaams Blok, was banned by the state on dubious grounds.
According to Antifa-style activist Julien Dohet, leftists are looking to redouble their opposition to populists in Belgium.
The attack on Vlaams Belang’s headquarters comes two months after joint state and leftist pressure failed to deplatform the annual National Conservatism conference in Brussels in April, prompting international headlines. Ironically, the third, successful site hosting NatCon 2024 is close to the building that was vandalised. Similar rallies were staged throughout France, in response to similar electoral gains by Le Pen’s nationalist Rassemblement National Party.
