Police order closure of right-wing conference attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman
Police in Brussels have moved to shut down a right-wing conference attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.
Local authorities ordered the closure of the National Conservatism (NatCon) Conference to “guarantee public safety”.
Ms Braverman, the former home secretary, and Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, were among the political names advertised to speak at the event on Tuesday alongside right-wing Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban.
Police arrived shortly after the event began at the Claridge venue in central Brussels to tell organisers the event would be shut down.
According to a report on social media, police arrived while Mr Farage was addressing the event, giving attendees 15 minutes to leave the venue. However, officers did not appear to force the event to shut down and speeches continued.
The conference has already had to move location twice after mayors within the Brussels region refused the meeting’s chosen venues, but now it has been completely terminated.
Emir Kir, mayor of the area where the conference was held, said: “I issued an order from the mayor to ban the ‘National Conservatism Conference’ event to guarantee public safety.
“In Etterbeek, Brussels City and Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome.”
Conference organisers said they were launching a legal challenge to Mr Kir’s order, adding: “There is no public disturbance and no grounds to shut down a gathering of politicians, intellectuals, journalists, students, civic leaders, and concerned citizens.
“The police entered the venue on our invitation, saw the proceedings and the press corps, and quickly withdrew. Is it possible they witnessed how peaceful the event is?”
Before the event began, Mr Farage criticised the Belgian capital’s leadership for reportedly pressuring venues to cancel the conference.
Mr Farage said Brussels “appears to have got even worse” since Brexit and that cancel culture is “alive and well”.
“On my way back to Brussels, it’s my first public visit there for four years since the day I left on the eve of us leaving the EU,” he said in a video posted on X.
“Would you believe that Brussels appears to have got even worse in the four years since I’ve been there.
