Philip Heylen, the Antwerp alderman of public worship, proposed an ambitious plan to do something about the half-empty churches in the city. Currently, some 80 churches await demolishment or possible use other than worship. Heylen sees the churches as an opportunity for Muslims to take over the barely used, but empty churches. Vlaams Belang reacted…
The Leuven municipal council voted down a proposal by Vlaams Belang to ban civil servants from wearing the headscarf. By a large majority, only three of 45 councilors supported the proposal. Hagen Goyvaerts of Vlaams Belang pointed out that ethics codes provide for workers to stay neutral during working hours, and may not conduct religious…
The Municipal council of Lier, a city in the Antwerp province of Belgium, approved a ban on the wearing of religious symbols for counter personnel. The approval of the disputed proposal caused angry reactions by many immigrants who followed the meeting. After the Vlaams Belang party retracted the proposal for a total headscarf-ban for city…
BRUSSELS – Extreme right wing Vlaams Belang is going to launch a campaign to “stop Islamisation,” first in Antwerp and later in other cities. The party is calling for a stop to the registration of newcomers in the city, a restriction on the number of mosques, and the expulsion of radical imams. VB faction leader…
BRUSSELS – Opposition party right-wing Vlaams Belang will be given access to the applications submitted by mosques for recognition by the Flemish government. The Internal Administration Agency had refused to release the documents, but this refusal is unjustified, says the appeal agency for freedom of information. Islam has been one of the six recognised religions…
