New Flemish Alliance
The New Flemish Alliance is a Flemish nationalist, conservative, and liberal-conservative political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union.
The N-VA is a regionalist and confederalist movement that self-identifies with the promotion of civic nationalism. Within the Flemish Movement, the party strives for the peaceful and gradual transformation of Belgium into a confederal country. In recent years it has become the largest party of Flanders as well as of Belgium as a whole, and it participated in the 2014–18 Belgian Government until 9 December 2018.
On 3 February 2025, at the end of the 2024–2025 Belgian government formation, former N-VA Chairman and then Mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever became prime minister of Belgium, becoming the first member of a Flemish nationalist party to head the country's government.
The N-VA was established as a centre-right party with the main objective of working towards furthering Flemish autonomy and redefining Belgium as a confederal country through gradually obtaining more powers for both Belgian communities separately with the belief that this will pave the way for eventual Flemish independence. During its early years, the N-VA mostly followed the platform of the former VU by characterising itself as a big tent party with Flemish nationalism as its central theme. Furthermore, it emphasized a pragmatic and non-revolutionary image in order to legitimise increased Flemish autonomy. The party also espoused non-interventionalist and pro-individual freedom messages in its original platform. In subsequent years, the N-VA moved to the right and adopted a distinctly conservative identity under the leadership of Bart De Wever, who succeeded the founding leader Geert Bourgeois. The party used to be pro-Europeanist, and previously advocated deepening ties with the European Union which the N-VA regarded as an important means to give Flanders more international influence, but has since shifted to a "Eurorealist" or "Eurocritical" stance by calling for more democratic transparency within the EU, opposing a Federal Superstate and wants reforms made to the Eurozone and common EU asylum policy. The party is known for its insistence on the exclusive use of Dutch, Flanders' sole official language, in dealings with government agencies. The N-VA advocates economic liberalism and immediate tax reductions to stimulate the economy. It also supports stricter law and order and controlled immigration policies, with stronger measures to integrate immigrants in Flanders.
A leading member of the European Free Alliance, since the 2014 European Parliament election, the N-VA has sat with the European Conservatives and Reformists parliamentary group in the European Parliament.
The party announced the creation of a Walloon branch in 2024, although it didn't manage to win any seats in the Belgian elections of that same year.
History
Fall of the People's Union
The N-VA stems from the right-leaning faction of the People's Union, a Belgian political party and broad electoral alliance of Flemish nationalists from both sides of the political spectrum with the N-VA's founders largely encompassing the more centre-right and pro-independence wing of the VU.Towards the end of the 20th century, with a steadily declining electorate and the majority of the party's federalist agenda implemented, friction between several wings of the People's Union emerged. In the beginning of the 1990s, Bert Anciaux became party president and led the party in an ever more progressive direction, combining the social-liberal and social democratic ideas of his iD21-movement with the regionalist course of the People's Union. These experiments were opposed by the more traditional right-wing party base. Many of the VU's more ardent national-conservative members defected to the Vlaams Blok after becoming disgruntled with direction of the party, prompting a further decline in support. Around this time, VU member Geert Bourgeois, de facto leader of the VU's traditionalist and centre-right nationalist wing, put together the so-called "Oranjehofgroep" which included fellow VU members Frieda Brepoels, Eric Defoort, Ben Weyts and Bart De Wever. The Oranjehofgroep opposed the direction in which the party was being taken by Anciaux and wanted the VU to pursue a more conservative, Flemish nationalist and separatist direction, while the wing helmed by Anciaux was looking to merge the Volksunie with its progressive programme with another political party.
Tension rose towards the end of the decade, as Geert Bourgeois was elected chairman by party members, in preference to the incumbent and progressive Patrik Vankrunkelsven who belonged to the iD21 wing. Factions subsequently clashed multiple times, over the future course of the party and possible support for current state reform negotiations. On 13 October 2001, the party openly split into three factions: the progressive wing around Bert Anciaux, which would later become the Spirit party; the conservative nationalist wing around Geert Bourgeois; and a centrist group opposing the imminent split. An internal referendum was held on the future course of the party. The right wing gained a substantial plurality of 47% and inherited the party infrastructure. Since no faction got an absolute majority, however, the name Volksunie could no longer be used under Belgian constitutional law and the VU was dissolved. The centre-right orientated faction of the VU went on to found the N-VA while the remaining centre-left faction reorganized itself as Spirit and the centrist-liberal wing mostly folded into the Open VLD.
Foundation and the election threshold
In the autumn of 2001, the New Flemish Alliance was officially registered. Seven members of parliament from the People's Union joined the new party. The new party council created a party manifesto and a statement of principles. The first party congress was held in May 2002, voting on a party program and permanent party structures. Geert Bourgeois was elected chairman. The N-VA initially continued some of the VU's former policies.The party participated in elections for the first time in the 2003 federal elections, but struggled with the election threshold of 5%. This threshold was only reached in West Flanders, the constituency of Geert Bourgeois. With only one federal representative and no senator, the party lost government funding and faced irrelevance.
Cartel with CD&V
In February 2004, the N-VA entered into an electoral alliance, commonly known in Belgium as a cartel, with the Christian Democratic and Flemish party, the traditionally largest party, which was then in opposition. They joined forces in the regional elections in 2004 and won. Both parties joined the new Flemish government, led by CD&V leader Yves Leterme. Geert Bourgeois became a minister, and Bart De Wever became the new party leader in October 2004.The cartel was briefly broken when the former right-wing liberal Jean-Marie Dedecker left the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats and entered the N-VA on behalf of the party executive. However, the party congress did not put Dedecker on the election list, instead preferring to continue the cartel with CD&V, who had strongly opposed placing him on a joint cartel list. Dedecker saw this as a vote of no confidence, and left the party after only 10 days, to form his own party, List Dedecker. Deputy leader Brepoels, who supported Dedecker, stepped down from the party board afterwards.
In the Belgian federal election of 2007, the CD&V/N-VA cartel won a major victory again, with a campaign focusing on good governance, state reform and the division of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. The N-VA won five seats in the Chamber of Representatives and two seats in the Senate. Yves Leterme initiated coalition talks, which repeatedly stalled. On 20 March 2008, a new federal government was finally assembled. N-VA did not join this government, but gave its support pending state reform.
The cartel ended definitively on 24 September 2008, due to lack of progression in state reform matters and a different strategy on future negotiations. N-VA left the Flemish Government and gave up its support of Leterme at the federal level.
Mainstream party
In the regional elections of June 2009, N-VA won an unexpected 13% of the votes, making them the winner of the elections, along with their old cartel partner CD&V. N-VA subsequently joined the government, led by Kris Peeters. Bart De Wever chose to remain party leader and appointed Geert Bourgeois and Philippe Muyters as ministers in the Flemish Government and Jan Peumans as speaker of the Flemish Parliament.Ahead of the 2010 Belgian federal election, all of the other Belgian parties distanced themselves from the N-VA resulting in De Wever accusing the Belgian political establishment of plotting a new cordon sanitaire against his party. In its election program, the N-VA advocated confederalism for Belgium maximum authority and responsibility for the different regions of the country, whereby the Flemish and Walloon regions and communities are rewarded for good policies and punished for bad policies. The party also campaigned for revisions to Belgium's finance laws and reforms to the health and education systems. De Wever also called on all the Flemish parties to work together to push for confederalism and campaigned for the idea that no government formation in Belgium should exclude a Flemish majority.
The N-VA made a major breakthrough and won the elections with just under 28% of the Flemish votes in the Chamber, making it the largest party in Flanders and Belgium. The party acquired 27 seats in the Chamber. As a result, N-VA became the dominant political formation in the Flemish political landscape and took the place that CD&V had occupied for decades as the largest Flemish party. After the election, some media commentators attributed the party's result to the style of De Wever while others argued the N-VA was able to win over conservative and Flemish nationalist supporters of the Vlaams Belang who had supported the VB out of necessity as the main Flemish separatist party but regarded it as extreme by offering a moderate alternative, as well as voters of the Open VLD and CD&V who felt those parties had moved to the left and had not performed well in government.
The N-VA also performed strongly during the 2012 Belgian local elections but was criticized by political opponents for featuring former Vlaams Belang and Vlaams Blok politicians such as Jurgen Ceder and Karim Van Overmeire on their local lists. De Wever responded by stating that only a small number of VB politicians were running as N-VA candidates. The N-VA emerged as the largest party in Antwerp with De Wever being elected as mayor.