Flemish nationalist politician Filip Dewinter is Belgium’s most famous right-wing politician. With 40 years of service, he is Belgium's longest-serving member of parliament and stood at the cradle of opposition politics. Dewinter has experienced everything, from attacks on his life and his home to aggression from left-wing globalists and Islamic extremists. Despite this, he never deviated from his principles on migration and patriotism. “Western European civilisation as we know it will cease to exist. That is our fate”, said Dewinter.
By Arthur Blok
“There will come a day when we will see far more radical extremists and terrorists coming out of Europe because of a lack of decision-making, trying to be politically correct or assuming that they know the Middle East or they know Islam far better than we do. That is pure ignorance”, provocative and predictive words not spoken by Dewinter or one of his right-wing European colleagues, but by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed at a conference in 2017.
In the UAE and other Gulf countries, a completely different approach to migration is adopted. Migrants are only welcome if they have a valid employment contract; once they lose their job and have no financial means, they get a notice to leave the country. Illegally crossing the border carries significant penalties, including imprisonment, fines, and potential deportation: a pragmatic and straightforward approach.
This uncontrolled migration to Europe and its consequences are exactly what Dewinter has been trying to put on the agenda for almost four decades. He is the co-founder of Vlaams Belang. A party that did not shy away from putting the finger on the sore spot of society when it comes to mass migration and the social and cultural problems that go with it. They were ridiculed from day one and set aside as extreme right.
His party’s famous slogan ‘Eigen volk eerst’ (putting your own people first) is a thorn in the eye of the (radical) left. For his party, national culture and preservation of the Flemish national identity are at the top of the agenda. So are the immense demographic challenges that come with it.
Ironically, the left sees its own culture and traditions as inferior and is ignorant of the threat that it might all disappear. “The mainstream political parties in Belgium have eroded the Flemish identity,” Dewinter emphasised from his study in his home in Antwerp. “A similar process has been underway in most Northern European countries; the point of no return is near, if it has not already been passed."
Since the mid-80s, Dewinter has been sounding the alarm about the thousands of migrants that pour into Western Europe and his country weekly, the vast majority of them illegal migrants who are nothing but a burden to society. They are pampered upon arrival with free housing, medical (including dental) and meals. All the expenses of the Belgian taxpayers.
“The social, political, economic, and demographic ethnic situation in our country has changed completely. It is not unique to Belgium. It is evident everywhere in Europe,” Dewinter said.
Not to mention, the crime rates near asylum centres are disproportionately high in communities of migrants from non-Western countries. Inconvenient facts, for years downplayed by the mainstream political elite, who are playing ostrich and hiding behind European rules and regulations.
The illusion of Democracy
Dewinter: “The concept of politics has also changed drastically. Politicians have less and less power. Parliament has less power; this has been partially taken over by the European Union and partially by the judiciary. Everything has been reduced to a decision made in back rooms; in parliament, the illusion of democracy is maintained.”
By saying that, Dewinter hits the nail on the head. This practice is visible in most Western European states. Fortune seekers are still coming in en masse, and record after record is being broken. Dewinter wrote about this in many of his books; in one of his most recent ones, ‘Omvolking, de grote vervanging’ (Repopulation, the big replacement), he addresses the question of whether it’s a reality or a myth.
Is the process of repopulation happening in the West a reality or a conspiracy theory? The answer largely depends on the definition one gives to the concept of replacement. Is replacement a deliberate strategy of the multicultural elite and the pro-immigration lobby to replace the European population with another population and thus also put an end to European civilisation, culture and identity?
Dewinter: “That our population is changing is a fact, and I explain the phenomenon that it is no longer just a matter of immigration. It has become a matter of demographics now. Non-Western families are often very productive and have a large number of children. It is a matter of years before we become a minority in our own country.
There is no political will on the left to tackle the problem seriously, and immigrant groups are part of their supporters. Real change can only come if right-wing parties come to power and make policy to completely close the borders and implement a strict remigration policy for those who do not want to integrate, show criminal behaviour and oppose the society from which they profit.”
Outcasts of Parliament
In the late 1980s, Dewinter began with a small group of just two members in parliament. They were the outcasts. His message to halt migration and preserve the country’s culture was ridiculed by the political establishment, which spoke shame of him. As a result, a climate was created where verbal and physical attacks were almost normalised.
The mantra of the left was, if you shout these kinds of things, you are asking for it. A mantra that was also widely adopted by the mainstream media. While in a free country, everything should be able to be said, without danger to your life.
Dewinter experienced everything, from verbal and physical attacks on the street to people showing up at his house with guns. The list of attacks against him and his political allies is indefinite: “Especially in the early years, we received no support, not from the court, not from the police. We did get sympathy from the police, but they publicly denied it. Enjoying the protection necessary to engage in politics was not even invented.”
Cordon Sanitaire
We had to break the taboo on immigration, on political corruption and Islamisation. We raised these issues and made the connection between crime and immigration. That was already there; you just weren't allowed to talk about it. The left and so-called decent right liberal parties refused to debate it.”
Dewinter and his followers were immediately pushed into the racism corner and even labelled as the grandchildren of national socialism. This rhetoric was used as an excuse by his political opponents not to talk to them anymore.”
The so-called decent parties had an unwritten rule that Dewinter was to be ignored: “As if we did not exist. We did not appear in the newspaper, nor did we appear on any news. We were dismissed as a dangerous club and a kind of carte blanche to do something about it.”
A trend that later became mainstream throughout Western Europe. For decades, political parties of all kinds have joined forces to keep the far right far from the levers of power. This strategy is known as a cordon sanitaire (or firewall)
Dewinter paved the way for the movements that came after. Like the Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders, the Brothers of Italy (FdI) movement of current Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Alternative für Germany (AfD) of Alice Weidel. To name a few.
The once-strong cordon sanitaire is now falling apart, as similar and nationalist parties grow in strength across the European continent. Countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic have hard-right parties in government. In Sweden, France and Germany, similar parties are proliferating. Thwarted as much as possible by the ruling elite and their taxpayer-subsidised NGOs.
Dewinter: “In a growing number of European countries, similar parties like ours are active in the national government tasked with an impossible mission. Meloni is a good example. The left-wing media and activists continue to do everything they can to make participation impossible. Demonisation, lawsuits, and silencing.
Meloni faces the almost impossible task of turning a tanker around. It is not something that can be done in a jiffy, a boat that you must turn around. She has to address more than 40 years of policies that have caused all these problems. You cannot do that in a few months. The same applies to other European countries.”
As a right-wing national party, there are no institutions that give support. Dewinter emphasised that the voter is the only supporter they have: “The entire legal apparatus has been politicised, including the judiciary. Our political opponents are desperately trying to hold on to power, but you see their parties getting smaller and smaller. The anger of the man on the street is so great. You notice and see that everywhere.”
The judiciary should never become an instrument in silencing the so-called far right. That is the end of any democracy.
Dewinter forsees two possible scenarios: if the witch hunt against right-wing candidates stops and harsh policies can be introduced, then democracy can ultimately win; If that does not happen, then I predict a clash that could even develop into a war in Western Europe. I see it bleakly.”
The state of Antwerp
After visiting Antwerp to interview the Belgian nestor of politics, one thing became evident: Antwerp is a stone's throw away from becoming a Northern African city. It is virtually a challenge to find native white inhabitants. The laid-back, cosy atmosphere of the city centre is no more.
Taxi drivers speak better Arabic than English; when you talk Dutch (or Flemish), you are stared at as if you are a stranger. In a growing number of neighbourhoods, you can only get halal meat, and the facades have Arabic inscriptions. Antwerp’s traditional character and culture disappeared.
The same could be said about a growing number of Western European cities in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Anyone who dares to downplay this social demographic decline of Western European culture is part of the problem, not the solution.
Dewinter fears it to be an impossible mission indeed to turn the tide: “More than One-third of the population of Antwerp is now Muslim, and 60 per cent have their roots outside Europe. It is too late now; it has become a demographic nightmare. A takeover.
Ironically, the growth of a party like Dewinter’s is also finite due to population replacement. In Antwerp, he once got 34 per cent of the vote. That is now unthinkable. Dewinter sees a perfect storm emerging in the world, particularly following the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Dewinter: “America is an incredibly important factor in the whole story. Trump does what he has to do, of course, his political opponents aggressively measure him, and the mainstream media also plays a dubious role. He does what he promised the voter.”
A not-to-be-missed momentum, Dewinter concluded. Otherwise, I fear that it is irreversible. Migrants have already taken over large cities in Europe. Ethnic minorities have become majorities in many places. The tide can only be turned with a firm hand.
Dewinter: “Throughout history, many great civilisations have disappeared. That will also happen with scientific, economic, and Western European civilisation. That is our fate. What is happening now in Western Europe is something we have repeatedly warned about.
We have all proposed countermeasures, but we were unable to implement them. It was not allowed. We were condemned for it. We almost got put in jail for it. Now everybody has to deal with the consequences.”
