Thierry Baudet launched the Flemish branch of his party Forum for Democracy (FVD) on Saturday evening in the Belgian city of Genk. The far-right party, together with FVD Flanders, is focusing on participating in the European parliamentary elections in June.
“It is extremely important that our story is also heard in Flanders,” Baudet said during the meeting, according to the Belgian news agency Belga. “We are part of the same nation, we started the same movement six hundred years ago. It is strange that Flanders is part of Belgium.”
Baudet had already announced the establishment of a Flemish FVD branch at Ghent University at the end of last year. That happened shortly after he was hit on the head at the entrance of the building by a Ukrainian man who did not appreciate Baudet’s fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Position on Ukraine
Marcel de Graaff is currently the only representative of FVD in the European Parliament. De Graaff first belonged to the extreme right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) faction, but left it in 2022 because of what he described as an “extremely belligerent” faction’s position on the war in Ukraine.
Since the start of the war, the FVD has profiled itself even more strongly as pro-Russian. That is exactly one of the topics on which Baudet’s party wants to distinguish itself from far-right Flemish alternatives, such as Vlaams Belang. Baudet: “Vlaams Belang considers Israel more important than Europe, has not lifted a finger during the corona crisis and supports Ukraine instead of our great European ally, Russia.”