Court chides Brussels mayor for shutting down conference of far-right leaders

(CN) — A day after a high-profile far-right conference was shut down by a Brussels mayor, the event was back on Wednesday with its attendees, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, making political hay of a failed attempt to derail their gathering.

On Tuesday, Emir Kir, the left-wing mayor of the Brussels neighborhood of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, ordered police to close down the National Conservatism Conference citing concerns over public security because the gathering would draw protests.

But after a late-night hearing Tuesday, Belgium's top administrative court, the Council of State, issued an order early Wednesday lifting the ban. The court said the mayor's order was a violation of the right to assemble peacefully and that Kir should have reinforced security at the event instead of shutting it down if there were concerns about disorder.

In ordering the shuttering of the conference, Kir said on social media that “the far right is not welcome” in his municipality.

After the court's ruling, Kir said he would abide by the decision but that he had “no sympathy for those who preach hate.”

“We are in a state of law. The courts have ruled and the event will go ahead today,” he said. “I have taken my responsibilities to prevent any excesses and I will remain vigilant as to how things unfold.”

The mayor was rebuked by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who called the ban “unacceptable.”

“Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830,” De Croo said. “Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.”

Tuesday's events in Brussels mirrored another controversial police crackdown on a hard-left conference in Berlin over the weekend featuring prominent critics of Israel's invasion of Gaza. At that event, police showed up at the start of a three-day event dubbed the Palestine Congress and ordered the power to be cut off shortly after a Palestinian researcher, Salman Abu Sitta, began speaking by video link from Britain.

One of those banned from entering Germany to attend the Berlin event was Yanis Varoufakis, a prominent left-wing academic and former Greek finance minister.

After the ban on the far-right conference, Varoufakis spoke out, saying the Brussels conference was banned “simply because the authorities didn’t like what was being said in it.”

“My view is that Europe is sliding ever so fast towards a quagmire of farcical authoritarianism,” he said, as reported by UnHerd, an online news outlet.

By Wednesday morning, the conference attendees, who included some of Europe's most prominent hard-right nationalist politicians, were savoring the chance to excoriate their favorite targets — left-wing politicians, Brussels bureaucrats, the European Union.

“This is a symbolic event here,” Orbán said, speaking to reporters as he showed up at the conference. “Today, Europe balances on the border of freedom and oppression.”

He compared the attempt to close down the conference to tactics used by the Hungarian state in the 1980s to silence him after he began challenging the communist regime.

With his close ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán is one of Europe's most controversial figures. He's a darling on the far right but widely viewed in Europe as having turned Hungary into an authoritarian state ruled by his far-right party, Fidesz.

The EU is withholding billions of dollars in EU funds from Hungary as part of long-running legal challenges to laws passed by Orbán that are deemed undemocratic.

On the stage at the conference, Orbán lashed out at EU leaders and accused them of “financial blackmail” for withholding Hungary's funds because it was “not behaving well ideologically,” as reported by Hungary Today, a pro-government news outlet.

He accused the EU of punishing Hungary because it did not like his views on “gender ideology” and his opposition to migration.

Orbán, who describes himself as a “defender of Christianity,” is known for his screeds against gays, migrants, Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, liberals and progressive causes.

“We have a continent with a Christian tradition, it is a civilization based on Christian customs, while those who are coming en masse illegally carry a different tradition,” Orbán said. “They are from the Muslim tradition, and this fact is a source of conflicts.”

He added: “The real reason the liberals support migration is not demography, but to get votes.”

He took aim at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, accusing her of politicizing the EU's executive branch in contravention of the EU's treaties.

Europe is a “progressive liberal ocean, and Hungary is an island of difference in the middle of it,” he said. “Our country has become a place for conservatives to come and discuss change. Hungary has become an example how to create a civic society.”

In the speech, Orbán blasted the EU's ambitious efforts to tackle climate change, saying they had weakened the bloc economically. He also questioned Brussels' decision to impose sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

“They introduced damaging sanctions to stop the war, while the war is still ongoing,” he said, according to Hungary Today. “They promised a lot, and failed to deliver.”

The conference took place at a toxic moment in EU politics with elections in June for the next European Parliament set to deliver a strong showing for far-right parties.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit