One Nation, Two Languages, and a Rising Right: Vlaams Belang’s Calculated Surge

Long quarantined, once reviled, now rebranded — Belgium’s Flemish nationalists are edging towards power.

Belgium, a nation defined by delicate compromise and linguistic equilibrium, has long treated ideological radicalism as an uninvited guest at the federal table. But Vlaams Belang, the Flemish nationalist party, is no longer knocking at the door. It is inside the building, poll-tested, professionally run — and increasingly hard to ignore.

For decades, Vlaams Belang (VB) — and its predecessor, the Vlaams Blok — was held at arm’s length by a self-imposed “cordon sanitaire,” a refusal by other Belgian parties to collaborate with a party many deemed toxic: xenophobic, secessionist, and dangerously populist. Today, that firewall is cracking. VB consistently polls as one of the most popular parties in Flanders. It commands a loyal online following. And it is reshaping the tone — and direction — of Belgian politics, even from opposition.

This is not the old street-protest populism. It is algorithmic, strategic, and shaped by a new generation of nationalist politicians who trade torch-lit marches for slick TikToks and EU-bashing with Silicon Valley polish.

From Pariah to Power Player

Vlaams Belang traces its roots to Vlaams Blok, a party disbanded in 2004 after a court ruling found it had promoted racism. Reconstituted the same year under its current name, VB maintained its ideological core — Flemish nationalism, anti-immigration policy, Euroscepticism — but began a long campaign of aesthetic detoxification.

The party's current figurehead, Tom Van Grieken, has been central to this rebrand. Elected party leader in 2014 at just 28 years old, Van Grieken swapped bombast for branding, updating the party’s image from fringe protest movement to youthful conservative insurgency. His language is more polished, his rhetoric more calibrated, and his ambition clear: to make Vlaams Belang not just heard, but governable.

The party has doubled its support since 2019. In some Flemish constituencies, it is now the dominant political force. The once-taboo idea of VB entering government — regional or federal — is now openly discussed.

Platform: Fortress Flanders

Vlaams Belang’s ideological spine remains hard-right, though dressed in policy finesse. Its platform blends ethno-cultural nationalism with economic populism, and law-and-order conservatism with democratic Euroscepticism.

Key policies include:

• Flemish independence or at minimum “confederalism” — a restructuring of Belgium into two de facto sovereign entities

• Massive reduction of immigration, including bans on Islamic head coverings in public and strict integration demands

• Prioritisation of native Flemings in welfare and housing

• Tax cuts for working families, coupled with strong opposition to EU fiscal transfers

• Tough policing, longer sentences, and expanded surveillance against crime and “foreign influence”

• Withdrawal from the UN Global Compact on Migration, and pushback against what the party calls “left-globalist ideology” in schools and media

But what distinguishes VB in 2025 is not its ideology — versions of which echo throughout Europe’s populist right — but its delivery. Its digital ground game is aggressive, youth-oriented, and platform-native. It dominates Facebook in Flanders, curates sleek YouTube content, and runs campaigns through meme accounts and livestreams rather than town halls and flyers.

Flemish First, Belgian Later

VB’s nationalism is local. Unlike France’s Rassemblement National or Italy’s Lega, VB is not a party of national unity — it is a party that seeks to end Belgium itself, or at least render it functionally obsolete.

To its supporters, Belgium is not a country but a confederation of bureaucratic inconvenience: an artificial construct held together by francophone dependency and European subsidy. The Flemish taxpayer, VB argues, subsidises Wallonia’s stagnation, Brussels’ dysfunction, and immigration policies it didn’t vote for.

This anti-Belgian animus gives VB its unique place in Europe’s far-right ecosystem. It wants to take power not to run Belgium — but to deconstruct it. To build a “Flemish republic” with its own immigration controls, its own constitutional values, and, in time, its own seat in Brussels (the other Brussels).

The Crumbling Cordon

For years, Belgium’s political establishment enforced the “cordon sanitaire” around VB. No coalitions. No debate invitations. No media normalization. That consensus is now under visible strain.

Several parties on the Flemish right, particularly the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), have flirted with post-cordon rhetoric, suggesting cooperation in “exceptional circumstances” or on “shared Flemish interests.” Van Grieken’s tone has grown more conciliatory as well, aimed less at street mobilization and more at persuading swing voters that VB is not a protest, but a government-in-waiting.

Critics warn that this legitimization is the very point of VB’s rebranding — and that beneath its retooled image lies the same old ethno-nationalism, barely disguised. Human rights groups continue to track discriminatory language and exclusionary policies in the party’s internal literature and online discourse.

But for now, the strategy is working. VB dominates the agenda on immigration, security, and identity. Other parties find themselves echoing VB talking points — even as they denounce the party’s origins.

Populism, with Flemish Characteristics

Vlaams Belang is not Europe’s loudest populist party. It does not promise to storm Brussels or scrap the euro overnight. It does not deploy militia iconography or traffic in overt conspiracy theory. But its strength lies in exactly that: strategic restraint.

It is populism with a professional face. Its candidates wear suits, not uniforms. Its rallies feature stage lighting, not street brawls. Its message is designed not to alienate, but to embed. It aims not to overthrow liberal democracy — but to recode it.

And in a country as institutionally fragmented as Belgium, that may be all it needs.

The Future of the Union?

Whether VB enters government or not in the years ahead, its influence is already undeniable. It has pulled the Flemish political spectrum rightward. It has made secessionism a serious topic once more. And it has shown that far-right parties, with enough discipline and data, can go from outsider to contender without changing their ideology — only their tone.

Vlaams Belang does not want to save Belgium. It wants to outlive it.

And if current trends hold, it just might.