The N-VA to become more international than ever

The N-VA wishes to gain more prominence internationally. For that purpose, the party has established “N-VA Internationaal”, an internal working group that will carry out its international strategy. Karl Vanlouwe, Peter Luykx and Sander Loones - Flemish, federal and European Parliament members respectively - are responsible for this internationalisation. In addition, N-VA wishes to exert more influence on federal as well as Flemish foreign policy. For example, federal diplomacy is in urgent need of modernisation, while Flemish diplomacy deserves more support.

The N-VA has always maintained political contact with foreign countries. “However, since we are the biggest party in the country, we need to expand that international network further now,” says Sander Loones. “This also applies to the international media, as they still all too often gather information about us from Francophone sources.” Therefore, the party is going to start communicating more actively about itself and about the characteristics and features of the Belgian state system. “There is an urgent need for the international community to know that the federated entities are at the heart of Belgium, and that Flanders is by far the most important federated entity,” Karl Vanlouwe explains in this context.

“With N-VA Internationaal, we are now also developing a comprehensive party vision on foreign policy internally, in which we will follow up international issues in a coordinated manner at the Flemish, federal and European level,” Peter Luykx explains. The party also nurtures an international reflex among people at the research department, staffers and Jong N-VA.

Influencing foreign policy

This international profiling is, of course, no coincidence: the N-VA wishes to influence foreign policy at all levels through its members of parliament, secretaries of state and ministers. This especially applies to the policy of the European Union, which has an increasing impact on the daily life of Flemish people. The debate about the future of that Union is in full swing. “We call for European cooperation for the simple reason that it benefits Flanders,” Sander Loones explains. “But, as eurorealists, we resolutely denounce the idea of a massive European super state.”

Modern diplomacy

N-VA Internationaal fully supports the Flemish Government in its ambitious foreign policy, including among other things a fully-fledged Flemish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “In addition, we call for further professionalisation of Flemish diplomacy and a targeted cultural, academic and public diplomacy,” Karl Vanlouwe specifies. At the federal level, on the other hand, there is a need to modernise diplomatic appointments and make them more objective; currently they are too often purely politically motivated. “The Francophone-dominated view of Belgium, the so-called ‘Belgique à papa’, is long gone,” Peter Luykx concludes, “and it is high time for federal diplomats to come to this realisation too. The diplomatic career must urgently be judged more objectively.”