2023-06-14 08:47:00
January 2005. The N-VA, a young formation heir to the right wing of the Volksunie, organizes a media stunt. In order to make an impression on money transfers from Flanders to Wallonia, the nationalists have chartered twelve trucks. In these vehicles, counterfeit 50 euro notes. Virtually, there are 11.3 billion… They go to the boat lifts of Strépy-Thieu on the Canal du Center (Hainaut), symbol in the eyes of the N-VA of the Walloon mismanagement. It was Bart De Wever who set up this operation. It will make a lasting impression. After this episode, the president of the N-VA multiplied the spades with regard to French speakers, associating them in particular (in 2010) with “junkies” drugged with Flemish money…
However, in recent years, his remarks have softened, his political target has shifted. Several factors explain this. The nationalist leader hopes for a major federal agreement following 2024 in order to move the country towards “confederalism” in N-VA style (significant regionalization would strip the federal state of most of its powers). Bart De Wever is not a revolutionary but a reformist. To achieve his ends, he will need French speakers in order to obtain a two-thirds majority in parliament and revise the Constitution for a big bang institutional. The PS, which was in the past the pet peeve of De Wever, is now a potential partner. No need to offend him too much by stigmatizing his voters…
Bart De Wever’s crusade once morest woke thought, “this war that is ruining Western society from within”
A way to cast a wide net
For Dave Sinardet, professor of political science (VUB, Saint-Louis University), another factor must be taken into account: if the N-VA has smoothed out its political style, it is also because Flemish nationalism no longer has the same hold over the north of the country. “At the N-VA, the classic nationalist discourse has disappeared, analyzes the political scientist. According to this discourse, more autonomy is needed for Flanders. For what ? Because there is a Flemish nation, a Flemish culture, a Flemish identity. To protect all this, we need more autonomy, even we need an independent nation. But Bart De Wever has understood that classic nationalism no longer convinces many people. So he adapted his speech. The autonomy of Flanders is only a means to obtain a more right-wing policy. Fewer taxes and fewer immigrants, to put it succinctly. It’s a way to attract people to the N-VA who don’t have a nationalist streak. Liberals disappointed with the Open VLD, for example.”
For Dave Sinardet, the issue of financial transfers has moved to the background within the N-VA. It is still part of the party’s basic thinking, but in a less glaring way. “If the N-VA puts less focus on this theme, it may also be because Bart De Wever knows that he will have to agree to pay even more money to French speakers in exchange for a new reform of the State.“The N-VA wants to anticipate a hypothetical agreement and avoid being caught up in its contradictions…
The Belang has taken up the torch
As nature abhors a vacuum, Vlaams Belang has taken up the torch. In 2015, exactly ten years following the N-VA, the Vlaams Belang had in turn sent 16 small trucks loaded with counterfeit banknotes at the foot of the hydraulic lifts of Strépy-Thieu… “The Belang capitalizes a lot on thisnotes the political scientist. For example, Barbara Pas (MP VB) wrote a book on transfers last year.”
Bart De Wever reiterates his conditions to govern with Vlaams Belang
Language issues have also tended to take less place in public debate. “The linguistic question is no longer very buoyant compared to what we have known in the past, added Dave Sinardet. There were still some problems in the Brussels periphery. But even there, compared to 10 or 15 years ago, when we talked all the time regarding unnamed mayors, the subject has almost disappeared.”
Finally, the “romantic” vision of Flemings moving forward united on the road to independence has fizzled out. “I remember an interview with Geert Bourgeois (tutelary figure of the N-VA) who said he was jealous of the Catalans who fervently demanded autonomy. He evoked the flags which came out spontaneously, the trade unions, the cultural world, the media which reflect the Catalan identity. While in Flanders this identity is perceived negatively by many sectors of society.”
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