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Vlaams Blok, has disbanded itself and formed a new party: Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest).
Vlaams Belang
15.11.2004 - Yesterday morning, 14 November 2004, the Party Council of the Vlaams Blok disbanded our party, following the verdict of the Belgian Supreme Court last Tuesday that had declared the Vlaams Blok a “racist” organisation.
Though the Vlaams Blok was Belgium’s biggest party and occupied a third of the seats in the Flemish Parliament, we felt compelled to disband. According to the Belgian Anti-Racism Act every member or collaborator of the Vlaams Blok could be brought to court.
Moreover, private funding of political parties is effectively outlawed in Belgium. Indeed, Belgian law forbids political parties to accept private donations higher than 125 euros, while corporate donations are illegal. Belgium’s political parties are financed by the state. They can, however, be deprived of their funds by a parliamentary majority in case of a conviction of “racism” or if they fail to accept the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950 and the related protocols ratified by Belgium.
Yesterday afternoon, one thousand delegates from local chapters of the disbanded Vlaams Blok convened in Antwerp to establish a new party: the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). In the coming weeks the Vlaams Belang will elect a party leader. Meanwhile I have been asked to send you the Manifesto of the Vlaams Belang.
Yours truly,
Frank Vanhecke,
Member of the European Parliament,
Party Leader of the Vlaams Blok from 1996 to 2004