Political Parties in Flanders - Nationalists/Conservatives/Linguistic Parties

Nationalists/Conservatives/Linguistic Parties

Further information: Flemish Movement

The foremost nationalist party in Flanders is the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), which was founded in 2004, after its predecessor Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block) was condemned by a High Court for "permanent incitation to discrimination and racism." The Vlaams Belang is most strident in pursuing a nationalist agenda (Flemish independence).

The most militant Flemish regional party in Parliament in the 1950s and 1960s, the Volksunie (VU), once drew nearly one-quarter of Belgium's Dutch-speaking electorate away from the traditional parties. The Volksunie was in the forefront of a successful campaign by the country's Flemish population for cultural and political parity with the nation's long dominant French-speaking population. However, later on the party suffered severe setbacks and in October 2001 the party disintegrated. The social-liberal wing founded Spirit, later called the Social Liberal Party, while the more traditional Flemish nationalist wing continued under the banner New Flemish Alliance (NV-A). After a disappointing result in the regional elections of 2009, the Social Liberal Party decided to fuse with the Flemish ecologists of Groen!.

In the 2010 federal elections, the New Flemish Alliance became the biggest party and broke the domination of the traditional parties.

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