Thousands of members enjoy a fun-filled N-VA Family Day at Plopsaland

Yesterday, Plopsaland De Panne once again provided the setting for our N-VA Family Day, bringing together 10,000 members and supporters for a day packed with adventure, a spectacular performance by Mega Mindy and a passionate political speech by our party president. Amid the thrills and spills of the rollercoasters, Van Peel looked back on 25 years of the N-VA and ahead to the months to come: “What a ride it has already been for our party!”

When the N-VA was founded in 2001, virtually no one believed democratic Flemish nationalism had much of a future. And after the 2003 elections, our party was left with just one seat in the Chamber of Representatives. Today, the N-VA leads both the Flemish and federal governments.

According to Van Peel, that success is first and foremost thanks to the thousands of dedicated members and supporters who have stood by the party over the years. “A party is not just its president, ministers, members of parliament and mayors in the spotlight. A party is powered by people. By thousands of committed members, staff and supporters who are there on the good days, but above all on the difficult ones. So, from the bottom of my heart: thank you!”

We’re not there yet

The party president also called for continued support. “The previous De Croo government left us with the worst budget deficit in the European Union. A historic level of public debt. An avalanche of rising expenditure. And not a single reform to tackle any of it. Belgium was a train heading straight for a brick wall.”

Although the De Wever government has already implemented major reforms – including limiting unemployment benefits in time, helping the long-term sick return to work, making the labour market more flexible and reducing migration inflows – the situation remains serious. “While others are permanently on the campaign trail, we are working flat out.”

“We have already reduced the massive budget deficit by €12 billion. But we’re not there yet,” our party president warned. Rising energy costs, geopolitical conflicts and a global tariff war, among other factors, have created a perfect storm for our economy. “Inflation has risen. Interest rates have gone up. And as a result, servicing our historically high debt has become much more expensive. It is a dangerous cocktail, and we need to tackle it now. Five years ago, we were paying around €8.5 billion in interest on our national debt. Today, that figure has already doubled. And if we do nothing, our annual interest bill will rise to more than €20 billion within five years. That is more than the government currently spends in an entire year on the police, justice and defence combined. That money is simply gone.”

To prevent our country from being caught in an uncontrollable spiral of mounting interest costs, the N-VA is determined to put the public finances back in order. Van Peel was unequivocal: “We want to take responsibility once again. That is what you have come to expect from us. Within the current federal framework, we will do everything we can one more time to get the budget back on track. In the longer term, as we have always said, this will also require fundamental state reform. That, too, is now widely acknowledged. Finally, I would say.”

Make work pay and stamp out abuse

To safeguard our prosperity, the N-VA wants to take targeted action to curb public spending and ensure that social support goes only to those who are genuinely entitled to it. “We need to start helping people move forward again instead of keeping them trapped on benefits,” Van Peel stressed. She made clear that abuses of the system can no longer be tolerated. “The money must go to those who genuinely need it. And we need to put an end to people taking advantage of the system. It is time for social justice. And it is time to make work pay. Always.”

The party president also addressed the French-speaking part of the country, delivering an unequivocal message about the federal deficit. While Flanders is managing to put its finances in order through prudent and responsible government, the deficits in Brussels and Wallonia continue to weigh heavily on the country as a whole. “It is high time for French-speaking politicians and the media to make one thing clear to the public: the money has run out,” Van Peel said. “And there is no such thing as free money. We need to stop living on credit. Everyone needs to pull their weight.”

Less noise, more hard work

“The next round of spending cuts will not be pleasant. Everyone knows that. But it has to be done. And we can do it. Some people spend every day making a lot of noise. Others get the job done. The N-VA chooses the latter,” Van Peel said. She called on the coalition partners to abandon vetoes, taboos and political bluffing. “This is the moment when the permanent campaigning has to stop. We need to press ahead with the hard work,” she said firmly. Because if the budget is allowed to spiral out of control, everything else risks coming crashing down with it – from purchasing power and healthcare to Social security Social security is currently managed at the Federal level in Belgium. The most important pillars of Belgian social security are: sickness and invalidity insurance (NIDHI), pensions, unemployment insurance and child allowances. In addition, occupational illness, occupational accidents and annual holidays are dealt with at this level. Some Flemish parties have been campaigning for years for (large parts of) social security to be transferred to the Regions and Communities. social security .

“But it’s not all doom and gloom,” Van Peel concluded on a positive note. “If we can get through this, the toughest part of the journey will be behind us. We will have room to breathe again. Room to invest. To grow. To build a better future. For greater prosperity – and, with it, greater well-being.”