Éric Zemmour, Viktor Orban and Nigel Farage did not come for nothing. The controversial meeting of the European nationalist right in Brussels, banned on Tuesday by the local authorities, was finally able to resume its course this Wednesday after the decision of the Belgian Council of State to invalidate the decree.
The ban on the conference, which brings together several leading figures from the nationalist and Eurosceptic camp a few weeks before the European elections, was denounced by several European heads of government as an attack on freedom of expression and assembly. The organizers of the “National Conservatism Conference” (“NatCon”) had filed an appeal.
This Wednesday morning, the Belgian Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, agreed with them by deciding to suspend the decree taken by the mayor of the Brussels commune of Saint-Josse, the elected socialist Emir Kir.
A very critical stop
In his judgment, he considered that “the constitutional right to assemble peacefully” had been ignored by the mayor. The latter essentially motivated his order 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, it is appropriate to take measures 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.
On Tuesday, 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 of the Soviet era.
Zemmour already there, Orban expected
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 castigated “the illegal and liberticidal coup” of the mayor of Saint-Josse.
Viktor Orban, who is due to participate in a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, 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,” the elected official underlined on his Facebook page.