New Flemish Alliance no relation Flanders
The New Flemish Alliance (Dutch: Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU).The N-VA is a regionalist and separatist movement that self-identifies with the promotion of civic nationalism. It is considered part of the Flemish Movement; the party strives for the peaceful and gradual secession of Flanders from Belgium. In recent years it has become the largest party of Flanders as well as of Belgium as a whole, and it participated in the 2014–18 Belgian Government until 9 December 2018.The N-VA was established as a centre-right party with the main objective of working towards furthering Flemish autonomy and redefining Belgium as a confederal country through gradually obtaining more powers for both Belgian communities separately with the belief that this will pave the way for eventual Flemish independence. During its early years, the N-VA mostly followed the platform of the former People's Union by characterising itself as a big tent party combining policies from the left and right with Flemish nationalism as its central theme. Furthermore, it emphasized a pragmatic and non-revolutionary image (as opposed to the far-right character of the other main Flemish pro-separatist party Vlaams Belang) in order to legitimise increased Flemish autonomy and nationalism. The party also espoused non-interventionalist and pro-individual freedom messages in its original platform.In subsequent years, the N-VA moved to the right and has adopted a distinctly conservative identity under the leadership of Bart De Wever, who succeeded the founding leader Geert Bourgeois. The party is also known for its insistence on the exclusive use of Dutch, Flanders' sole official language, in dealings with government agencies, and for the promotion of the use of Dutch in Flanders. The N-VA advocates free-market economics and immediate tax reductions to stimulate the economy. It also supports stricter law and order and controlled immigration policies, with stronger measures to integrate immigrants in Flanders. The party previously advocated deepening ties with the European Union which the N-VA regarded as an important means to give Flanders more international influence, but have since shifted to a "Eurorealist" or "Eurocritical" stance by calling for democratic reform of the EU.Since the 2014 European elections, the New Flemish Alliance has sat with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary group in the European Parliament.Foundation and ideology
The New Flemish Alliance is a relatively young political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. Being one of the successors of the Volksunie (1954–2001), it is, however, based on an established political tradition. The N-VA works towards the same goal as its predecessor: to redefine Flemish nationalism in a contemporary setting. Party leader De Wever calls himself a conservative and a nationalist. The N-VA has previously argued for a Flemish Republic as a member state of a democratic European confederation. In its initial mission statement, the party stated that the challenges of the 21st century can best be answered by strong communities and by well-developed international co-operation, a position which reflected in their tagline: "Necessary in Flanders, useful in Europe." (Dutch: Nodig in Vlaanderen, nuttig in Europa.)
During the N-VA's early years a label for the political orientation for the party was difficult to find. Borrowing from its People's Union predecessor, the N-VA was initially considered a big tent or catch-all party and a socially liberal nationalist movement that combined left- and right-wing policies, and a focus on individual responsibility. The N-VA also summed up its initial platform with the slogan evolution, not revolution, arguing for a more pragmatic approach to Flemish nationalism by pursuing gradual independence for Flanders through reforms and increased autonomy for both the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium. This strategy assumed that through successive transfers of powers from the federal level to both regions on the one hand, and the European Union on the other, the Belgian state will gradually become obsolete. The party's early platform also supported pacifist politics and the non-aggression principle.
In its 2009 election programme, the N-VA described itself as economically liberal and ecologically green. The party supported public transport, open source software, renewable energy and taxing cars by the number of kilometres driven. It wanted more aid for developing countries and more compulsory measures to require that immigrants learn Dutch.
The party has generally been supportive of LGBT rights by backing same-sex marriage and relaxing laws for gay couples to adopt. It calls for measures to protect weaker members of society but also robust welfare reform to encourage people into work and reduce unemployment. The N-VA also supports abolishing the Belgian Senate.In recent years, the N-VA has shifted from a big tent to an avowedly conservative party by basing some of its socio-economic policies on that of the British Conservative Party. Political scientist Glen Duerr has described the N-VA's current position as evolving to somewhere between that of Vlaams Belang and CD&V.Since 2014, the N-VA has been described as continuing to move ideologically further to the right under the influence of Bart De Wever and Theo Francken by adopting tougher stances on immigration, integration of minorities, requirements to obtain Belgian citizenship, law and order, national security and repatriation of foreign born criminals and illegal immigrants. In 2015, German weekly Die Zeit published a list of 39 successful radical political parties in Europe. The paper described N-VA as right-wing populist and separatist because it reduces complex political problems to territorial issues. N-VA responded that "foreign media find the party difficult to place, so they just label us as extremists." In 2018, the party opposed the UN Global Compact for Migration and subsequently withdrew its participation in the Belgian government in protest of its passing. Some commentators have attributed these shifts as a response to a revival in support for the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang, which also campaigned against the Migration Compact. In contrast to other Belgian parties, the N-VA is more critical of the cordon sanitaire placed on Vlaams Belang and recently has been more open to negotiating with the party (although accepting former Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang members as defectors into the N-VA still remains controversial within some ranks of the party).In terms of foreign policy, the N-VA's stance on the European Union began as strongly pro-European in character (which it regarded as an important means of gaining legitimacy for Flemish nationalism on an international stage) and in 2010 the party called for "an ever stronger and more united Europe." However, the party has since moved in a Eurocritical direction and takes a more critical stance on European integration by no longer endorsing a European confederation, calling for less EU interference at national decision making levels, more democratic reform of the EU and arguing that economically unstable nations should leave the Eurozone. The party is critical of the EU's stance on illegal immigration (in particular its handling of the migrant crisis) and the role played by NGOs in picking up migrants. The N-VA argues that the EU should emulate the Australian model of border protection to reinforce its external border and work with nations outside of Europe to stem the flow of illegal migrants arriving by sea.In 2019, the party adopted what it calls a ecorealism stance, arguing for constructive methods and the use of green technology and expanding Belgium's nuclear power stations to mitigate climate change.
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