Flemish nationalist party N-VA have confirmed that they will stay a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament for the next five years.
The news was confirmed by MEP Johan Van Overtveldt, who leads the group on Wednesday.
Belgium's biggest election winners had been looking into different options in recent weeks, after the Flemish nationalist party had previously expressed disillusionment with the ECR.
The group was set up by David Cameron's UK Conservatives in the mid-2000s, but today is home to many far-right parties, which was one of the reasons N-VA had expressed its dissatisfaction at the heart of it.
Earlier this year, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon voiced that the N-VA did not feel "at home" within the ECR group, insinuating they were considering sitting with other political groups after the 9 June election.
Despite previous doubts, the party reaffirmed its affiliation with the same parliamentary group on Wednesday, home to far-right parties, Fratelli d’Italia (Italy), Vox (Spain) and Law and Justice (Poland).
The Polish far-right today has also confirmed they will stay part of the ECR, snubbing Viktor Orbán's new far-right group "Patriots for Europe" after much speculation.
Many members of Identity and Democracy (ID), the more extreme far-right group, are opting to leave for Orbàn's new group. It includes Vlaams Belang, who are also being tipped to change groups.
The ECR have grown with 84 elected representatives in the June European elections, featuring the three N-VA MEPs. They are on track to become the third-largest political group in the Strasbourg assembly, overtaking the liberal group Renew Europe.
