Belgians set up Flemish BBB

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The victory of the BoerBurgerBeweging received a lot of international attention. For example, the German Rhenisische Post speaks of a ‘defeat for the government that threatens the stability of the coalition’ and the BBC calls it a ‘political earthquake’. But the BBB victory is also the big news for our southern neighbours.

The victory of the BoerBurgerBeweging received a lot of international attention.  For example, the German Rhenisische Post speaks of a 'defeat for the government that threatens the stability of the coalition' and the BBC calls it a 'political earthquake'.  But the BBB victory is also the big news for our southern neighbours.
The victory of the BoerBurgerBeweging received a lot of international attention. For example, the German Rhenisische Post speaks of a ‘defeat for the government that threatens the stability of the coalition’ and the BBC calls it a ‘political earthquake’. But the BBB victory is also the big news for our southern neighbours. (ANP/Evert-Jan Daniels)

All the more so because there seems to be a relatively equal sentiment in Belgium. According to VRT journalist Steven Viktor Decraene, Belgian media are full of it. “It’s really big news here,” he says. ‘It was the opener of the evening news, newspapers are full of it and it’s all about Caroline van der Plas.’

Decraene states that Flanders wants to know everything about BBB’s frontwoman and how she succeeded in transforming a ‘one-sided nitrogen movement’ into a major anti-establishment party. ‘That has a lot of resonance in Flanders.’

Parallels

Although, according to Decraene, similar sentiments are alive in Belgium, Belgian politicians remain in the background for the time being. For example, there would be some who would like to draw or see parallels, but caution is the trump card. ‘I have seen a tweet from the chairman of CD&V (Belgian equivalent of the CDA, ed.), the party that is opposed to the nitrogen agreement, who speaks of a ‘landslide’ and that it is a ‘logical consequence’ of the contempt of rural regions and the agricultural sector.’

Decraene thinks that a certain echo can be discovered in this, that people in Belgium expect a similar resurrection in Flanders.

Farmers

All the more so because the Flemish agricultural sector feels incredibly strengthened by the election victory of the BBB. For example, a movement has even emerged in Flanders that calls itself the ‘Flemish BBB’, with the support of Van der Plas. ‘This movement already has 2,500 members,’ continues Decraene. ‘You feel that there is a lot of support in Flanders for what is happening in the Netherlands.’

‘You feel that there is a lot of support in Flanders for what is happening in the Netherlands’

Steven Viktor Decraene, VRT

Decraene dares to doubt whether the sentiments are directly comparable. ‘In Flanders they sometimes say ‘if it rains in Paris, it will drizzle in Brussels’, but whether that is also the case with The Hague remains to be seen,’ he says. ‘We have had a political party like Vlaams Belang for some time now, which has been documenting the dissatisfaction in society for some time. So we don’t have the Dutch tradition of quickly emerging parties that then disappear just as quickly.’


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