Green light for the continuation of a meeting of the European nationalist right in Brussels. The National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) was finally able to continue this Wednesday, April 17 after the decision of the Belgian Council of State to invalidate the ban order taken the day before by the municipality hosting the event. The British Nigel Farage, champion of Brexit, the French polemicist Éric Zemmour, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban : this conference brings together several headliners from the nationalist and eurosceptic camp a few weeks before the European elections.
The ban decided by the mayor of the Brussels commune of Saint-Josse, the elected socialist Emir Kir, had been denounced by several European heads of government as an attack on freedom of expression and assembly. This Wednesday, April 17 in the morning, the Belgian Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, decided to suspend this decree, targeted on Tuesday by an appeal from the NatCon organizers.
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In its judgment, the Council of State considered that “ the constitutional right to peacefully assemble » had been ignored by the mayor. The latter essentially motivated his decree by highlighting “ the risks of disturbances of public order caused by demonstrations by opponents which could lead to serious clashes », recalled the court.
But ” in such cases, measures should be taken to contain demonstrations on public roads rather than prohibiting a private meeting. The authority must at least endeavor to protect people who intend to exercise their right to assemble, enshrined in the Constitution », added the Council of State.
This Tuesday, April 16, the headliners of the meeting castigated the banning order notified a few hours after the opening, seeing in it practices worthy of ” a dictatorship » or from the Soviet era. Éric Zemmour, who was blocked from entering the conference venue on Tuesday afternoon by a police cordon, was able to return on Wednesday morning, all smiles in front of the cameras. The former French presidential candidate lambasted “ the illegal and liberticidal coup » from the mayor of Saint-Josse.
Viktor Orban, who is due to participate this Wednesday, April 17 in a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, was expected at the end of the morning at the NatCon speakers' platform. Emir Kir, for his part, admitted that the decision of the Council of State allowed the event to continue in a reception hall in his commune. But ” the question of security nevertheless remains raised. I took my responsibilities as mayor to prevent any excess », Underlined the elected official on his Facebook page.
