On the Flemish television program “Premier choix” (“Eerste keus“), in which young people called to the polls for the very first time can put their questions to candidates in the municipal elections, a member of the far-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang made openly racist and Islamophobic remarks.

Afnan, a young woman wearing a headscarf, explained that the garment was of particular importance to her and an integral part of her identity. Guy D’haeseleer, a Flemish MP from the Vlaams Belang party, retorted: “If you come to Flanders, you know the traditions here”, then added: “And if you can’t deal with that, the world is big enough, there are other countries where you can be yourself”. Extremely violent remarks from a member of a party that makes no secret of its contempt for foreign people and cultures.