Fears that ban on Vlaams Blok party will see far-right group strengthened - [Sunday Herald]

They are Europe’s most successful far-right nationalist party, thriving over the past two years while those in other countries have seen their popularity dwindle. Last June they won a quarter of the vote in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern half of Belgium. But on Tuesday, the country’s highest court condemned the Vlaams Blok as racist. The ruling will effectively force the party to disband. It won’t make them go away, however. According to their leader, Filip Dewinter, they will regroup, reconstitute themselves under a new name, and carry on. Indeed, he, like many observers outside the party, expects the verdict to increase their popularity still further. Stefaan Walgraeve, associate professor of politics at Antwerp University, said Vlaams Blok thrive on their underdog image as “ the only party fighting against the establishment and for the common people”. “If it is condemned,” he added, “it will reinforce this image – an image which is the party’s best life insurance.” In the meantime, Belgium’s newspapers and politicians are going through some unprecedented soul-searching. Why is a party regarded by many as xenophobic and extremist so popular? What can be done to curb their rise? And what should happen to the “cordon sanitaire” – the agreement by all democratic parties not to include the Vlaams Blok in any coalition?