Filip Dewinter, arguably the VB's best known strongman abroad, is not the Chairman of the VB itself. He is, a.o., VB fraction leader in the Flemish Parliament, the Flemish regional assembly. Keep in mind that Belgium is a federal state, with a federal government "above" the two regions, Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia. Both regions have their own "governments" and "parliaments". The VB is Flanders' biggest party, drawing about one quarter of the vote. Since Flanders has a bigger population than Wallonia, the VB is at the same time also Belgium's biggest party. Its name, Vlaams Belang, means "Flemish Interest" and highlights what is in fact the main aim of the party, that is to say Flemish Independence. Explaining this in itself important issue would require far too much space and time. Suffice to say that within the Belgian framework the Flemings have always been, even to this day, second rate citizens of some sort, as a provider of cheap labor power for early industrialized Wallonia in the nineteenth century and as a milk cow to keep the Wallonian semi-communist state afloat in the twentieth century. While I, as a Fleming, am fully aware of past and present injustices, personally I regret the independence stance because a divorce would ultimately cost Flanders much more than the 11.5 billion euros transferred every year to the south. A secession would be a very ugly divorce and create instability in the heart of the European Union. It would also very likely cause Brussels to lose its status as Capital of Europe, as well as the departure of countless international organizations, NATO on top. That said, I don't think it is that far yet, and the other very real issues the VB puts on the agenda are much more pressing. VB Chairman is actually Frank Vanhecke, who is also a MEP (Member of European Parliament). Under his guidance, the VB has shaken off its murky past and transformed itself into a decent, (relatively) business friendly conservative party which comes up for traditional western values and which firmly rejects the dogmatic belief in multiculturalism, forced upon Belgian citizens by the regime. A regime which by all means tries to kill the VB, even as we speak and write, but more about that later.
As for the meeting, here is where and when to meet:
When: Friday, February 23. 7:00-10:00 PM
Where: Crystal City Marriott
1999 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Crystal City Marriott is located above the Crystal City Metro, and is also less than a mile away from Ronald Reagan National Airport Washington. Admission is free, though donations are appreciated. Business attire is required. Please RSVP in advance to marcusepstein@gmail.com, but feel free to come if you do not RSVP.
Organizer and speechwriter for the two VB delegates' journey is Paul Beliën, the director of The Brussels Journal, one of Europes leading conservative websites. Mr. Beliën recently had an elaborate post on the subject. Mr. Beliën is Belgium's best known conservative journalist, and was spit out by the overwhelmingly leftist Belgian media landscape fifteen years ago after writing an op-ed in The WSJ the regime did not like. The irony is, that today, "that fascist from the Wall Street Journal" has become a major opinionmaker not only for the European, but indeed for the Western Right, while his leftist "colleagues" are still bickering and self-enjoying in their homemade incestuous leftozoid environment, "serving" a market of a mere 10.5 million people - of which, I gather, to their horror an increasingly bigger percentage is beginning to see them for them for what they are - obsolete, vile and utterly undemocratic crooks.
Recently, Mr. Beliën wrote the following column for The Washington Times. I hope the following, very telling exerpt may induce you to come to the Crystal City Marriott come Friday evening:
Americans who want to know what their country will be like 20 years from now if it follows the path its politicians want it to take, need only look at Europe. There, one can see what the undermining of Judeo-Christian values, higher taxes, onerous regulations and big, intrusive government will lead to: the collapse of a civilization.
First there was the rise of the welfare state, which led to the steady emergence of highly taxed, slow-moving and maladaptive economies that must support growing and eventually unsupportable demands by the citizens.
Second, there was secularism. People who have the state taking care of them from the cradle to the grave no longer need God. The welfare state also intentionally undermined religion to crush the spirit of freedom among its subjects. And it undermined demographics, because people who do not believe in God do not believe in the future and see children as a burden.
Third, a wholly new danger emerged, namely that of welfare immigration -- the immigration of people, increasingly from cultures which have not been shaped by the basic forces of European civilization, who come purely for the purpose of claiming benefits.
Take Holland, for example, Europe's equivalent of San Francisco. This is Pelosi Land. The Dutch are pampered by an extensive welfare system. They were the first in Europe to legalize abortion, euthanasia and homosexual "marriage." Today, Islam is filling the void that was left when the Dutch created a religious vacuum in the heart of their culture. There are already 1 million Muslims in the Netherlands out of a total population of 16 million. Their number is rising fast because the Muslims are fecund while the secularist Dutch have hardly any offspring. The native Dutch are moving out. Since 2004, more indigenous Dutchmen have emigrated each year than immigrants have moved in. People who have lost faith in God do not fight. They run. Since they do not believe in life after death, this life is the only thing they have to lose. One emigrant Dutchman, a homosexual author who lives in Brussels, writes: "I am not a warrior. I do not fight for freedom. I am only good at enjoying it." This mentality has affected the whole of Western Europe. A young German woman recently said that it is "better to let yourself be raped than risk injuries while resisting, better to avoid fighting than risk death." Europe has chosen the path of submission. Islamization is not the cause but the consequence of the collapse of Europe. The very word Islam means "submission." Many Europeans have submitted already. In that sense, they have already become Muslims.
Be there, if you can. Europes Right and America's Right will meet. Brothers in arms. Dare I have the audacity of hoping this meeting will be the start of a grand new Rightwing partnership across the Atlantic? I dare.
MFBB.