Extreme right in Belgium

Résumé du document

In September 2006, seventeen people have been arrested in Belgium for allegedly planning attacks aimed at "destabilising" the country's institutions, 10 of these 17 people where soldiers and the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that they are people with an extreme-right ideology who clearly express themselves through racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism". What happened in the army is only a reflection of what happens in this society. Indeed, the most popular political party in Flanders is an extreme right one called the Vlaams Blok with 18, 1% of the votes in 2003. And in the Walloon region, the French speaking part of Belgium, the extreme right Front National has also a significant popularity. The extreme right in Belgium is a real issue and its increasing success drives us to wonder how and why this success can be possible? The issue has extensively preoccupied the minds of politicians, social scientists, the media and the public, at large. It has been applied to radical political parties, fringe organisations, clandestine groups and a range of violent racist activities. While the extreme right is easily recognisable, there is virtually an absence of definition in most of the existing scholarly studies. Some have defined the extreme right in terms of opposition to democracy, and others in terms of racist and ultra-nationalistic attitudes.

Extraits

[...] Ethnic commitment is a natural link (romantic conception). However, because of antiracist laws as well as antiracist and antifascist taboos linked to the atrocities committed during the Second World War, the Vlaams Belang does not allege the existence of a biological racial differentiation between the peoples. The Vlaams Belang activists and thinkers refer to ingroups which are groups to which the individual supposedly belongs and outgroups which include people who are perceived because of their race, culture or religion. It implies that people are culturally different and a sharp difference is made between Europeans and non-European foreigners. [...]

[...] It must be noted though that racism at that time was confounded with anti-immigration feelings. Nearly 66% agreed that immigrants should be sent back without exception stated that immigrants “legally established from outside the EU should be sent to their country of origin if they are unemployed”. A Eurobarometer survey in 2004 - Majorities Attitudes Toward Minorities in EU 10 new members (2003): Resistance to multicultural society: (variation to 55% in Estonia) limits to multicultural societies: 41.7 opposition to civil rights for migrants: European Social Survey : Resistance to immigrants Resistance to asylum seekers Resistance to diversity Favor ethnic distance Favor repatriation policies for criminal migrants Perceived collective ethnic threat But the rejection of certain kinds of Immigrants was combined with a low level of xenophobia: A strong support for fundamental rights was expressed: 80% were in favor of legal protection against discrimination; 55% agreed with the right of asylum in case of religious or political persecution. [...]

[...] There is an increase of the opposition to civil Rights for foreigners. - The resistance to diversity is related to the preference for a holistic society, and also to the wish to avoid any interaction with members of minority groups For 58% Europeans: immigrants constitute a ‘collective ethnic threat' Perceived insecurity, social and political distrust are the factors of this ethnic exclusivism, a very important data remains (in this Eurobaremeter survey) that 50% of those who declare themselves as racist or quite racists were dissatisfied with their government and national institutions, the less confident on EU institutions you are, the more you will be agree with ethnocentrism values promoted by ERP, indeed the link between euro- scepticism and ethnocentrism is obvious. [...]

[...] The extreme right in Belgium is a real issue and its increasing success drives us to wonder how and why this success can be possible? The issue has extensively preoccupied the minds of politicians, social scientists, the media and the public, at large. It has been applied to radical political parties, fringe organisations, clandestine groups and a range of violent racist activities. While the extreme right is easily recognisable, there is virtually an absence of definition in most of the existing scholarly studies. [...]

[...] European surveys show that the Extreme Right's rise is a West European phenomenon. Indeed, these post-industrial societies have to face new problems whose consequences are growing distrust, ethnic exlusivism, and racism especially against Third World countries immigrants. Taking a look at the representatives at the national scale of each Western European countries as well as at the representatives at the European scale we can wonder about the current role of ERPs in the decision process: do ERPs become established political parties? [...]