Far-right Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang claimed on Sunday to be the party of "common sense" against "political games," and the party of the average Fleming, during a New Year’s reception in Londerzeel (Flemish Brabant).
Leader Tom Van Grieken railed against mainstream political actors who were "full of well-known Flemings and influencers who frequent the TV studios more than the parliament, like (Vooruit leader) Conner Rousseau."
He reiterated that he no longer wanted his party to be labelled as extremist, judging that extremists sat in executives who, according to him, govern against the will of the people.
"We will do the maths at the next election," said the president of the party that is competing for the top spot in the polls. His favourite targets will have been Vooruit and, above all, the N-VA, which he suspects of wanting to make a pact with the socialists in 2024.
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Tom Van Grieken used several tragic events at the beginning of the year to call for a tougher security policy, and counted public spending on the reception of asylum seekers to call for a tougher asylum policy.
Adopting one of his many victim narratives, he considered that his party would be the main target of the whole political class during the next election campaign.
Just over a quarter (25.5%) of people in Flanders say they will vote for the far-right party, who are also the second-highest spenders on online advertisements on social media.
