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Brussels orders shutdown of right-wing meet targeted by protests / Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt - AFP
Brussels orders shutdown of right-wing meet targeted by protests
Brussels authorities on Tuesday ordered the shutdown of a controversial gathering of hard-right European politicians, after it was targeted by online protesters and bumped from its first two choices of venue.
Keynote speakers at the "national conservatism" conference include the eurosceptic populist Nigel Farage and Britain's former interior minister Suella Braverman and -- on day two -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Farage's morning speech went ahead despite swirling rumours the event was about to be shut down, followed by Braverman, who took the stage despite police entering the venue to notify organisers of a ban.
"I think it's absolutely monstrous," Farage told reporters after wrapping up his address.
"This is the complete old Communist style where if you don't agree with me, you've got to be banned, you've got to be shut down," said the Brexit figurehead.
Emir Kir, mayor of the Brussels district of Saint-Josse where the hotel venue is located, confirmed on Facebook he had issued a ban in order to "ensure public security".
He said the far-right -- which is predicted to surge in EU-wide elections taking place in June -- was "not welcome" in the city.
The situation Tuesday afternoon was at something of a stalemate, with speeches proceeding on stage but police posted outside and preventing any further access.
"Police have instructed that they won't let people into building but won't force them to leave," said Anthony Gilland of the MCC think tank, one of the conference's joint organisers.
- Scramble -
Several hundred people turned up to hear the event's speakers, including elected officials from across the EU, on themes such as "Why Should We Prefer Our Own Culture to Others?" or "Challenging Wokeism: An International Matter".
The "NatCon" organisers had been scrambling for a place to host their event since Friday evening, when the Brussels reception room they initially booked abruptly pulled the plug, reportedly under political pressure.
The event was moved last-minute to a hotel in Brussels' European quarter -- but that too changed its mind on Monday night, apparently fearing disruption from the gathering.
Anti-fascist demonstrators had been planning to protest at the venue later in the day, with the Belgian League of Human Rights is among the groups opposing the event.
"Freedom of speech may indeed apply to everyone, within the limits of the law, but that does not mean we have to open our home to the far-right," it said in a statement ahead of the event.
Farage spoke to reporters at length to complain about the ban and lambast the EU -- whose leaders were gathering for a two-day summit in Brussels starting on Wednesday.
"If anything's convinced me that leaving the European Union ideology was the right thing to do it's the events of today," he said. "It's monstrous -- but I tell you what, it's done me a favour," he said of the ban.
MCC's head of communications John O'Brien denounced the closure order as "Orwellian", and organisers were taking legal action to try to keep the event going on Wednesday.
D.Ricci--INP
