Main focus of Monday, October 9, 2006

The Belgian far right

The Belgian municipal elections of Sunday, October 8th represented a test vote for the Flemish far right, the Vlaams Belang. In the end it did not manage to conquer the town hall of Anvers with 33 percent of the vote, because the Socialist Party won 35 percent. But compared to earlier elections Vlaams Belang did register better results in several communes of the Flanders region.

Der Standard - Austria

According to Barbara Hoheneder, the Belgian moderate parties' promise not to form a coalition with the right-wing extremist Vlaams Belang party won't be enough to combat right-wing extremism in the long term. "The 'cordon sanitaire' is still intact, but with each election victory, the united front against the extreme right is becoming shakier. This is also because the policy of ostracism adopted towards Vlaams Belang makes it easy for the party to portray itself as the genuine opposition. Among young voters in particular, it's now fashionable to vote for Vlaams Belang… Government policy has failed to halt this trend among this portion of the population, in part because the government is afraid to take political measures which come too close to Vlaam Belang's demands. The 'cordon sanitaire' policy based on ethical and moral arguments won't be enough to stem Vlaam Belang's rising popularity." (09/10/2006)

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Le Soir - Belgium

"Belgium is breathing a sigh of relief", notes Beatrice Delvaux, chief editor of the Brussels daily. "Yes, the Vlaams Blok-Belang has been greatly increasing its electoral scores by comparison to the 2000 local elections. Yes, it is the biggest party in some Flemish localities. But no, it will not reach power. Listen up! Its progression is not a fatality! Belgium, on the verge of the extreme, did not take that dreaded plunge into the sickening, considered by the special correspondents of the foreign media as the one and only stake of this election. ... The real result of this election, essential for the democratic future not only of Flanders, but of Belgium, is evident: the Vlaams Blok-Belang, lost its bet and remains marginalised. The safety rope is holding out. ... The VB continues to weigh on the political agenda of the country, but will not exercise any influence on it." (09/10/2006)

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L'Humanité - France

The editorialist Maurice Ulrich notes that Vlaams Belang has again progressed with the latest municipal elections in Belgium. "This result demonstrates the gravity of the political crisis that is striking Europe today. Belgium is not an isolated case, far from it. .. The European map of the populist right-wing, whatever their minor differences, places them above 10% in Norway, Denmark, Austria, Holland and Northern Italy. Above 20% in Switzerland. In most cases it is mixed up with the far-right. Eastern Europe is no exception. ... It is the absence of perspectives, of real alternatives to the politics in practice, the impression that left and right are alike, that make it easy for demagogues, feed the far-right, populism and hatred in France as in Belgium, as in Europe." (09/10/2006)

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La Vanguardia - Spain

"The development and growing influence of far-right parties across Europe can of course be explained by local reasons, but are part of a general context that can be found all over the continent", advances the daily in its editorial. "The phenomenon is concerning. Beneath this label are at once converted ultra neo-Nazis and populist xenophobes of all sorts. The big democratic parties are confronted with a real challenge that will not simply resolve the problem by creating 'safety ropes', as is the case in Belgium. It is urgent and indispensable that major parties analyse the fundamental reasons for this phenomenon and that they work to limit its effects in the ballot boxes." (09/10/2006)

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24 heures - Switzerland

"What appears to be a bad Belgian joke reflects a very real phenomenon in this swelling Europe: stupidity and ignorance are being imposed as the new 'politically correct', comments the daily. "Switzerland is not missing out. Yet, in Belgium, the whole balance of the nation is being threatened by this tendency to withdraw into itself. The other, the one responsible for all ills, is also the immediate neighbour: 'The Walloon, the French-speaker, the lazy, mighty unemployed'. Shamelessly proclaimed in Flanders with a hatred rejected by the Flemish intelligentsia. Not enough to stymie a centrifugal movement, breaking up the country a little more every day." (09/10/2006)

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