Europe’s free speech debate intensifies after Belgian police shut down far-right conference

(CN) — Belgian police on Tuesday shut down an annual conference featuring high-profile, hard-right nationalist speakers, including Hungary's prime minister and Brexit champion Nigel Farage, in what many viewed as the latest attack on free speech in Europe.

Emir Kir, the mayor of the Brussels municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, ordered police to close down the National Conservatism Conference citing concerns over public disorder. Police entered the venue hall where the meeting was taking place and shut it down.

“Among these personalities there are several particularly from the right-conservative, religious right and European extreme right,” Kir said in statements. “The far right is not welcome.”

The event was peaceful and well attended, but it was expected to attract protesters due to its far-right associations, giving police a reason to put a stop to it.

The shutdown immediately sparked howls of protest from the conference attendees and their supporters in Europe's hard-right circles. It also added to the toxic atmosphere between pro-EU and anti-EU forces ahead of European Parliament elections in June that are expected to see a surge in support for far-right parties.

“Because they're questioning ever-closer union, because they're questioning globalism, they're literally being shut down,” Farage said on social media, alluding to far-right views opposing the European Union's drive to become a federal-like union and the politics of globalism.

“This is like the old Soviet Union, no alternative view allowed,” Farage said.

Farage was set to go on stage when police showed up at the Claridge venue hall and ordered the event to be shut down. Other speakers on the schedule were former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, French far-right leader Eric Zemmour and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In Brussels, Farage has long been a figure of contempt for many European politicians. He spent years railing against the EU project as a member of the European Parliament and became an architect of Great Britain's exit from the bloc with the Brexit referendum, an event that rocked the EU's foundations.

A spokeswoman for the British government called the actions by Belgian police “extremely disturbing,” the BBC reported.

The spokesman said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was a “strong supporter” of free speech and that he was “very clear that canceling events or preventing attendance and no-platforming speakers is damaging to free speech and to democracy as a result.”

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.

On Saturday, Berlin 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, became speaking by video link from Britain.

The clampdown on the Palestine Congress was the latest example of Germany's zero-tolerance toward expressions it considers antisemitic. Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Germany has banned pro-Palestinian protests, events and groups, accusing them of antisemitism.

Germany's harsh stance toward critics of Israeli policies, even as Israel faces genocide charges at the International Court of Justice, is part of a contentious state policy to back Israel with unequivocal support. Meanwhile, Germany is facing charges of complicity in genocide at the International Court for continuing to supply arms to Israel.

Besides shutting down the Berlin conference, police also barred former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, a prominent left-wing academic and frequent commentator, from entering Germany to speak at the event or even to address it via video, he said.

Also barred at the Berlin airport was Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon and son of Salman Abu Sitta. Ghassan Abu Sitta was scheduled to speak about his experience working at a Gaza hospital during Israel's invasion but was forced to return to Britain instead.

The shutdown of the far-right conference in Brussels, though, spawned the most headlines and debate across Europe.

“It’s really something out of a tinpot dictatorship,” Frank Füredi, one of the event's organizers from right-wing think tank Mathias Corvinus Collegium, told Politico.

Anthony Gilland, the organization's chief of staff, said police cited a planned protest against the event as a reason for shutting it down.

“The idea is that the police are not able to protect free speech at this event,” he said, as reported by Politico.

The group said two other venues had previously decided not to host the event under pressure from Brussels authorities. The conference organizers said they would challenge the shutdown in court.

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

Follow @cainburdeau

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