00.02

Echeren, on the outskirts of Antwerp, Belgium.

00.07  (picture of empty streets at night)

Tonight this sleepy town is wide awake with the cries of protest.

00.13 (demo pictures and chanting)

The right wing populist party Vlaams Blok has called for a demonstration against a refugee shelter.  ‘No shelter in our town!' they chant. But there is already a refugee centre in Echeren, which should have been filled some time ago. So far, Vlaams Blok has prevented the asylum-seekers from moving in. The extremists, whose name means ‘Flemish Bloc' have no official permission for their demonstration, but they are marching anyway.

00:44

I/V

Man:

We've just had enough. There are already too many foreigners here in Flanders.  All the refugee shelters are here and we Flemish have to foot the bill.

Man:

They should have stayed where they came from.

Woman:

We have to put our own people first - it's as simple as that.

01.07 (demo - focus on Filip de Winter)

Our own people first - this is the slogan that has been winning votes for Vlaams Blok.

One of the loudest protesters is Filip de Winter.  He is the leader of the demonstration and the party in Antwerp. He lives locally, near the refugee home.

01:23 (pictures of party in club)

The post-demo celebrations take place in a local club. Vlaams Blok is declaring solidarity with Austria's recently-elected right wing coalition, which explains the Austrian flags and music. Yet Jörg Haider's Freedom Party is not returning the compliment. No other Belgian or European party wishes to be officially associated with the xenophobic Vlaams Blok.

01.46

I/V

Freddy Geers, a local Vlaams Blok member.

FG: I don't personally think we're a right wing party.

Interviewer: ‘But don't you have a reputation for being extreme right?'

FG:‘Yes, people do say we're right-wing extremists'

Interviewer: ‘Does that bother you?'

FG:‘No- it doesn't bother me'

Interviewer: ‘Why not?'

FG:‘People can say what they like, but it's our voters who count. They support our programme, and if that's supposed to be extreme right, then it doesn't bother me.

02:16

The Bloc's manifesto calls for Flanders' partition from Belgium and a split from Wallonia, the French-speaking part. With ist declining heavy industry and higher unemployment, Wallonia is economically much weaker than Flanders.  A general dislike of all ‘European immigrants' has been growing alongside Vlaams Blok's usual xenophobia. Their manifesto states that Flanders should belong to the Flemish, with Brussels as their capital, and that the Eurocrats should get out of Brussels.

02:38

I/V

Filip de Winter

Vlaams Blok Antwerp

It's time the European institutions cleared off to Strasburg, Paris, Vienna or some other European capital - we've had enough of them. The Flemish are oppressed within Belgium as it is - we're demanding more for Flanders and less for Brussels. We don't mind Brussels as the European capital but we don't want any more Eurocrats and institutions there - they just make the situation worse for the Flemish in Brussels.

03:14

The port town of Antwerp is Vlaams Blok's stronghold - they are the most popular party here. The Blok's separatist ideology is entrenched in the country's history. The Flemish fought foreign powers for linguistic and cultural independence for centuries.  French threatened to take over Dutch as the national language for a long time, and is particularly unpopular. Wealthy Flanders also spends a fortune on ist weaker cousin, Wallonia. This background adds fuel to Vlaams Blok's fiery slogans.

03:47

I/V Johan Leman - Human Rights Worker

For every problem that arises in Flanders there is just one answer - it's always somebody else's fault. That's the only answer you ever hear.  It doesn't matter what the problem is - crime is a big one. People always point the finger at others and say - it's their fault. No-one says that about the Jewish mind you- you have to be very careful there - but the Moroccans, the Turks and the Wallonians are always an easy target.  They make good scapegoats. Someone else is always to blame.

04:25 (shots of different ethnic groups / shop / restaurant signs,etc)

The separatist faction has quietened down, and the vote-winner for Vlaams Blok at the moment is xenophobia. Over 140 different nationalities live in Antwerp - but the foreign majority is Moroccan

(cafe / bar)

This Moroccan club, called ‘Strangers but still Friends' was meant to be a meeting point, but  a Flemish person rarely sets foot in here.

Foreigners still  have no voting rights, which explains why the Bloc does well in areas with high numbers of foreigners.

04:57

I/V Oulad Ibrahim

I don't feel at home here anymore, frankly. People give you funny looks all the time just because you are Morrocan. I don't know whether it's because I wear a black leather jacket or because I have dark hair. Not everyone thinks that all Moroccans are bad, but Vlaams Blok tars us all with the same brush -they brand us all as criminals.

I/V Omar el Makrini

It's pretty scary to hear the Bloc going on about ‘clearing the place up'. Morocco isn't even a holiday destination for us any more so it's frightening to think what they could actually mean by ‘clearing up'. Sending us home? This is our home.

05:38 (shot of mayor in Antwerp town hall)

Belgian parties have agreed on a ‘cordon sanitaire' - a sanction which prohibits a coalition between Vlaams Blok and any other party. Yet with the Bloc holding  27% of all votes in Antwerp, the socialist mayor  had to form a coalition of all other parties to oppose them.

06:01

I/V Leona Detiège, mayor of Antwerp

LD:I don't wish to work with the Bloc. From the way they behave in the local council I don't believe that they are democrats. Another reason I don't want to work with them is that they oppose freedom of religion.

Interviewer: Are you keeping up sanctions to exclude Vlaams Blok from coalitions?

LD: Yes we're trying. We've done it for the last ten years, the last five of which were within the local council - and it's what we plan to do in the future.

06:37

The pact has worked so far, although opinion polls forecast more votes for the right in the Aututmn local elections.  The bloc currently enjoys 15 % popularity throughout Flanders. Opinions differ as to the effects of the government's policy of isolating the Bloc.

06:51

I/V

Koen Pelleriaux, University of Brussels

The government's sanctions have advantages and disadvantages for Vlaams Blok.  On the one hand it is a clear signal that Vlaams Blok is party to be avoided, and that anyone who chooses to co-operate with them needs to examine their conscience. Yet it could also have the opposite effect, making Vlaams Blok the only alternative for a protest vote because it's the only true opposition party left.

07:21

‘One against all' is the slogan of this Vlaams Blok meeting in a small village in Flanders. Euro MP and party chairman Frank Vanhecke makes a personal appearance. It really is a case of one against all - not only is Vlaams Blok isolated within Belgium  - they are also being boycotted in the European parliament.  Vanhecke chooses to give his interview in French, not Dutch, making his message accessible to a wider audience.

07:43

I/V

Frank Vanhecke

Vlaams Blok chairman

The same thing will happen here as in Austria. The other parties here are afraid to break the silence and drop their sanctions. But I think it's just a question of time before the voters themselves decide. We have always refused to compromise our policies and  our manifesto. We are convinced that it will be the voters themselves who break the ‘cordon sanitaire' the government's boycott of our party.

08:24

Back to Echeren.  The asylum seekers have arrived in spite of the Vlaams Blok protests. They won't have an easy time here - the Bloc is not planning to give up ist fight against foreigners.

At least, not as long as they can win votes and elections with their policy of xenophobia.

End inserts at 08:40

report:

Sabine  Zink

camera:

Joris Ceuppens

edit:

Peter Mück