The populist Right is taking over the EU

Belgium has a new government. All it took was seven months of negotiation — which by Belgian standards is breakneck speed. New Prime Minister Bart De Wever had previously served as mayor of Antwerp from 2013, besides leading his N-VA party for the last two decades. An experienced and formidable politician, it’s surprising it’s taken him this long to lead his country.

But perhaps that’s because he’s not overly keen on its continued existence. De Wever’s not just a Right-wing Eurosceptic, but also a Flemish nationalist. He’s reported as saying that “if I could die as a Southern Dutchman, I would die happier than as a Belgian.” Awkward.

Belgium is divided between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia, plus the mostly Francophone Brussels region. Though the Flemings are in the majority, it is they who vote for separatist parties such as the N-VA. It’s only because the normally Left-leaning Walloons edged toward the centre-right last year that a De Wever-led coalition government became possible.

Thus the EU has another populist prime minister — in this case, one belonging to the same EU-wide alliance of parties as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni. Other shades of national populist also rule in the neighbouring Netherlands, as well as Hungary and Slovakia.

In Austria, an establishment attempt to exclude the populist FPÖ, which won the 2024 general election, collapsed last month. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl is likely to become Austrian chancellor later this year, putting a sixth EU country under a radical Right-wing leader and granting the populists another seat on the European Council.

In Romania, a bitter legal battle is raging over the participation of Călin Georgescu in the county’s presidential election. The attempt to disqualify him appears to have backfired, leading to a surge of voter support. Meanwhile, Czechia is due parliamentary elections this year with Andrej Babiš — whose party is now allied with Viktor Orbán — poised to win. In Germany, the firewall against the AfD is still holding despite a few cracks. In France, however, Marine Le Pen has what is essentially a 50:50 chance of becoming president in 2027 — or sooner, if Emmanuel Macron resigns.

Belgium can therefore be seen as a microcosm of the EU. Divided between a rich north and a poor south, it’s an artificial creation whose federal power structures stand in the way of effective decision-making. Unchecked immigration has led to an electoral rebellion against the liberal establishment, propelling Rightwing populists not only into parliaments but also into government.

A further parallel is the irony of populist leaders taking over the power structures they once wanted to quit or dismantle: the Belgian state in the case of Bart De Wever, the EU in other cases. If that seems inconsistent, it’s nothing compared to the spectacle of establishment parties cooperating with politicians they once condemned as extreme — or even agreeing to serve under them.

The Belgian politician best known to British audiences is outspoken anti-Brexiteer and former PM Guy Verhofstadt, who has always championed a united Europe as a bastion of liberalism and the antidote to nationalism. One wonders what he makes of recent developments in his own country. All those who thought the EU would stop the populist Right need to get real: the call is coming from inside the house.