Brussels police shut down far-right political gathering over 'public safety' concerns

By Nur Asena Erturk

Brussels police on Tuesday shut down a far-right political gathering where the Hungarian premier was due to speak.

The two-day National Conservatism Conference was scheduled to take place in Brussels but two venues refused to host the event which gathered Reform UK head Nigel Farage, and where Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman were due to speak.

“Having one venue cancel, ok. I can live with that. But for two venues to cancel is absolutely outrageous,” Farage said on X. “What you may or may not know is that the venue that accepted us last night is receiving phone calls from the local mayor, and the police is being encouraged to come in and shut down this conference.”

The local authorities threatened the Tunisian owner of the venue “that if he carries out this conference, he will go out of business. His wife is being called,” Farage added.

Emir Kir, the mayor of the Saint-Josse district where the venue was located, said on X that he issued an order to ban the event “to guarantee public safety.”

“In Etterbeek, Brussels City and Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome,” Kir added.

Police officers came to the venue to ask attendees to evacuate the building, Belgian broadcaster RTBF reported.

The National Conservatism Conference is organized every year to gather dozens of right-wing conservative figures.

French far-right politician Eric Zemmour was also due to speak at the event.