The law enforcement officers arrived at the location near the European quarter two hours following the start of the event to inform the organizers: the event will be interrupted, writes the Politico.
According to the report, the authorities took action due to a disturbance of public order. Nigel Farage, a former member of the European Parliament and a champion of Brexit, was supposed to give a keynote speech at 11 a.m., and when he took the stage, he said it was “simply terrible” what the Brussels authorities are doing with the event.
It really is like a tin dictatorship. They are trying to use a technical reason to make a political argument. They told the owner that if they didn’t stop the event, they would cut the electricity
Frank Füredi, managing director of MCC Brussels, told the newspaper.
Just over an hour following first arriving, at roughly 12:45 p.m., the police returned to deliver the official order to the event’s local organizer, MCC Chief of Staff Anthony Gilland. The police gave him 15 minutes to read and sign the three-page document.
“One of the reasons we got, and it’s not the only reason, is that there’s going to be a counter-demonstration around 5 p.m. and the idea that the police can’t protect free speech at that event,” he said.
The mayor of the district issued an order banning the event
Claridge’s event hall was already the third venue for the conference, following the first venue – the Concert Noble – rejected them under pressure from Philippe Close, the socialist mayor of Brussels. After that, they tried to organize the event in the luxury Hotel Sofitel Brussels Europe, which might not take place on site due to the influence of the liberal mayor Etterbeek.
Emir Kir, the mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, where Claridge is located, previously told Politico in an email that he would “immediately take measures to ban the event.” He kept his promise, as he issued an order banning the two-day event and wrote: they do not welcome the extreme right.
In his order, the mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ordered police action and stated that “the protection of national sovereignty requires a Eurosceptic attitude, and serious atrocities once morest public order are expected and the event should not be held.”
In his explanation, he emphasized that provocative and discriminatory content may be heard at the event, and the speakers include traditionalists, homophobes, those who do not respect human and minority rights, and the author of controversial works regarding political Islam.
According to him, it cannot be ruled out that Belgian and foreign extremist groups endanger the physical integrity of the participants, as according to information, several people came from other countries for this purpose. He also pointed out that the organizers do not guarantee sufficient security measures. According to him, the banning of the event is also justified because it can provoke violent reactions and poses a significant threat to public order, public safety and public peace,” he wrote.
Two venues also rejected the conference
Nigel Farage paid tribute to the owner of Claridge’s, calling him a “brave Tunisian man” who stood up to “tyrants” who wanted to stop the conference.
The police informed the organizers that there was a risk that the demonstrators would cause a civil disturbance at the site later in the followingnoon. Anthony Gilland, MCC chief of staff, told the police that they will challenge the mayor’s decision in court so that the conference can still be held.
Frank Füredi a Mandarinhe also revealed that they were very friendly at the Hotel Sofitel Brussels Europe.
This is another part of the city with a different mayor. They said it would be fine. We signed the contract with them, and then yesterday, when we started building things in the hall, they said that their mayor said that he didn’t want this event to be in his area
– he said, adding that “the mayor was even proud and even proud that he managed to prevent the event”.
According to Mandiner, in the morning they also tried to put pressure on the owner of Claridge to cancel the event, which is why his car was taken away. The building was closed following that, and at that time only hired security guards secured the event instead of the police.
Füredi said regarding this: “They want to silence us, the anti-war, anti-migration, sovereignist forces. This is quite an exciting event. But I am very proud that everyone is working so hard.”
According to the plans, former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman and far-right writer Eric Zemmour, who is running in the French presidential elections in 2022, were also scheduled to speak at the event.
Orbán is not asking for war
Brussels stepped up
– wrote the Prime Minister in response to the events on his Facebook page.
Viktor Orbán also added that “if someone stands up for peace, they will simply be banned. There is no fairy tale, we have to say on June 9 that we do not want to leave the war!” he announced.
The Prime Minister also reacted on the social portal X, he wroteaccording to him, freedom of speech might no longer be tolerated in Brussels.
The last time they tried to shut me up with the police was when the communists incited them once morest me in ’88. We didn’t give up then, and we won’t give up this time either!
Viktor Orbán stated.
After this, Péter Szijjártó has a request for Brussels
Péter Szijjártó too shared his thoughts regarding the case, he made a request to the politicians in Brussels in his post.
Then from now on, right, not a single Brussels intellectual will use the words: freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of the press
– commented on what happened at the conference.
Balázs Orbán also responded
The Brussels left, city administration and radical left-wing activists jointly tried to make the meeting of the national conservatives impossible, the Prime Minister’s political director announced on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
Balázs Orbán wrote: In Brussels, they do not want to tolerate European voices in favor of national sovereignty, anti-migration and pro-peace. The international organizers of the conference were threatened and blackmailed several times, but ultimately unsuccessfully, he said.
The prime minister’s political director emphasized: the conference started with enormous interest, and freedom of speech will prevail.
However, according to Balázs Orbán, the lesson is “clearer than the sun”: there are intolerable conditions in Brussels, change is needed, and it can only be brought regarding by an alliance of national conservative forces and an election victory.
Balázs Orbán in another post also reported that Viktor Orbán will speak at the European Parliament on Tuesday at 4 p.m., as will former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The National Conservatism Conference is a conference dealing with the ideology of national conservatism. It is operated by the Edmund Burke Foundation.
According to Tamás Menczer, they want to silence the voice of peace at all costs
“The whole of Brussels is working to silence Viktor Orbán,” believes Tamás Menczer, the Fidesz-KDNP communications director, who also expressed his opinion on the blockaded conference in a post.
Menczer he wrote on his social media pagethat the first two venues were already canceled “due to threats and pressure from the left-wing mayor and the far-left, violent, anarchist Antifa”, but instead of securing the event at the third venue, the police blockaded it.
Long live Brussels democracy!
– he wrote, adding that “the war supporters want to silence the voice of peace at all costs and push us into war”.
Several leading politicians condemn the blockade
The authorities in Brussels did everything they might to stop the international conference of conservatives, but despite all this, it continued on the second day, the MCC (Mathias Corvinus Collegium) announced.
According to the MCC, the participants and speakers of the conference are representatives of national conservative forces who do not identify with pro-migration positions, but believe in a Europe of nations and want to live in freedom, which is why they want to silence them. According to them, this “recalls dark times”.
According to Mateusz Morawiecki, former Prime Minister of Poland, one of tomorrow’s speakers: “what is happening in Brussels right now is amazing. Freedom of speech is at risk. What will happen if next time we can’t even express our opinion if it differs from the European mainstream? The last time we experienced this was under communism, when we had to use samizdata,” the announcement quotes Morawiecki.
But the British government also condemned the action in Brussels, in their statement they wrote that the (British) Prime Minister is a strong supporter and advocate of freedom of speech and believes that it is the basis of all democracy. Banning events like this, preventing participation and silencing speakers is harmful to democracy. Free discussion and exchange of opinions is vital even if we disagree with the opinions being expressed.”
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, also condemned what happened on her social media page. “What is happening in Brussels fills us with disbelief and shock. (…) I asked Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to investigate what happened, and I also thank him for taking timely and decisive action once morest the hateful suppression of freedom of speech in Brussels,” reads the website of the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) party family.
@ECRparty President @GiorgiaMeloni on what is happening once morest the National Conservatism Congress in Brussels:
“What is happening in Brussels leaves us in disbelief and dismay. The mayor of one of the Belgian capital’s municipalities has banned a conference, which is scheduled…
— ECR Party (@ECRparty) April 16, 2024
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also spoke out, he wrote in his Tweet: “What happened at Claridge’s today is unacceptable. Local government autonomy is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, but it can never override the Belgian constitution, which has guaranteed freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political assemblies is unconstitutional. Point.”
What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional.Full stop.
— Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) April 16, 2024
(Cover photo: Delegates at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels on April 16, 2024. Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP)
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