2024-02-25 19:33:56
Théo Francken assured this on Bel RTL this Wednesday morning: the N-VA does not wish to separate Belgium. Is this really the case? Has the party abandoned its ambitions for independence for Flanders?
What does the N-VA really want for the future of Belgium? According to Flemish MP Théo Francken, “Il (Bart De Wever, editor’s note) does not want to separate Belgium, I think it is important to know that“This is what he explained at 7:50 a.m. this Wednesday on Bel RTL morning, when Martin Buxant asked him how he would convince French-speakers that the president of the Flemish nationalists would make a good Prime Minister.”Ihe wants to improve the functioning of the State“, he justified.
Théo Francken’s response may be surprising: the N-VA is nevertheless an independence party. Article 1.1 of its statutes says it clearly: “In its quest for better governance and more democracy, the New Flemish Alliantie logically opts for the independent Republic of Flanders, a member state of a democratic European Union. N-VA Flanders is open to international cooperation and looks mainly to the Netherlands“.
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So, is this speech from the N-VA surprising? Not really, for Pascal Delwit, professor of political science at the Free University of Brussels. “Dfor several years, its real ambition has been to try to transfer most of the skills to the federated entities“, he replies. This is what the N-VA likes to call “confederalism”: “Maintain at the level of the federal State only what we call sovereign prerogatives, that is to say internal security, external security and to a certain extent justice“, he explains.
The N-VA has understood this for a long time. In public debates, she therefore no longer speaks of separatism
It has, in fact, been many years since this party has put forward its independence ambitions so much. Why did you change your speech? “They know that, in Flanders too, it can scare people“, analyzes Dave Sinardet, professor of Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). “According to serious studies, only 10% of Flemish people are for the disappearance of Belgium. The N-VA has understood this for a long time. In public debates, she therefore no longer speaks of separatism“.
A Knack survey, carried out in 2019, revealed that only 16% were in favor of a split. The separatists were then only 25% in the N-VA and 30% in Vlaams Belang.
Today, the N-VA addresses French-speakers and chooses, here too, not to brandish the argument of the independence of Flanders.
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The N-VA, no longer truly independent?
However, we should not conclude that Bart de Wever’s party is no longer separatist, adds the professor.I believe that the independence of Flanders and the disappearance of Belgium still remains, in the long term, the goal of many people in the NV-A. But, at the same time, I think they are pragmatic enough to understand that it’s not going to happen quickly in reality. They also know that Flemish public opinion is not ready for this. So, it remains more of a long-term dream and not necessarily a short-term goal.” reacts Dave Sinardet.
She wants to practice what we could call de facto independence
The opinion is shared by Pascal Delwit, who recalls that it is not insignificant that the independence of Flanders is included in the party statutes. “The N-VA is in a logic where it wants to practice what we could call de facto independence, with a federal state reduced to its simplest expression. But formally, she has not abandoned the horizon of an independent Flanders“, assures the political scientist.
And then, the pro-independence voters of the N-VA, even if in the minority, are there and it is not a question of losing them: “It is a horizon that seems important and legitimate to them. Therefore, removing it from the speech, the statutes or the fundamental documents of the party could create a communicating vessel effect towards another independence party, which is the Vlaams Belang“, explains Pascal Delwit.
The difference between the N-VA and Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang, for its part, has not changed its position. “The VB, for its part, remains in its position of separatism. This is a difference between the two parties, even if according to their statutes, they are both separatists“, specifies Dave Sinardet “Vlaams Belang still defends this position and also says that if there was a VB/N-VA majority in the Flemish Parliament, it would have to, in one way or another, make a sort of declaration of independence which would not would not be implemented directly, but which should serve as a basis for negotiations with the French-speaking parties and which should therefore be carried out after these negotiations“, he reports.
In the north of the country, in any case, one in five Flemings would like to see Bart De Wever Prime Minister, according to a poll. 15% of them, conversely, do not want it. The current Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, is in second place with 9.3%. 11% of Flemings believe that it should not be renewed. Behind him, in third place, is Tom Van Grieken (7.2%), president of Vlaams Belang.
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Bart de Wever n-va Independence of Flanders Decryption RTL info
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