The protest rally of the Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang party in Brussels is allowed to go ahead on Monday after all, despite the ban previouslu put in place by Brussels City Mayor Philippe Close, the Council of State ruled on Friday afternoon.
Close had initially banned the demonstration, but the Council of State is now reversing that decision.
The big protest meeting is part of the party's leader Tom Van Grieken's walk from Ostend to Brussels between 19 and 29 May. With the slogan "Make them listen!" he aimed to speak to as many people as possible along the way.
Van Grieken's walk will end this Monday (Whit Monday) with a protest meeting on Brussels' Albertina Square, at the foot of the Mont des Arts.
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On Wednesday, Close announced that he was forbidding both the Vlaams Belang demonstration and the counter-demonstration that had been announced: after a police analysis, security could not be guaranteed.
Vlaams Belang took the ban to the Council of State, which ruled in the party's favour. "The mayor's decision does not, on the face of it, contain any valid reasons for banning the requested demonstration," the ruling reads.
In a brief reaction, Close said he "takes note of the decision" and will implement it.
Earlier this month, another event organised by the far-right political party — a "provocative" walk through Saint-Josse-ten-Noode with French author and convicted conspiracy theorist, Renaud Camus — was also banned by the mayor Emir Kir.
