Dutch VVD youth wing names Bart De Wever ‘Liberal of the Year’
The youth wing of the Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has declared Bart De Wever "Liberal of the Year". This is the first time a foreign politician has received this honour. The group criticised their own party.
In the parliamentary elections last October, the VVD won 22 seats, two fewer than in 2023. However, according to its youth wing, the party has shown "little evidence of liberality" in the past year, and during the elections, it "didn't show its most liberal side".
The group has therefore elected a foreign politician as Liberal of the Year for the first time. De Wever delivered the HJ Schoo lecture in Amsterdam in September, a speech that traditionally heralds the new political year in the Netherlands. In it, he advocated greater cooperation among the Benelux governments and across the EU in the area of trade.
This message clearly resonated with the young VVD members. They hope that De Wever can be "a good inspiration", including for the VVD itself. "Especially with the start of a new cabinet, it is urgent to champion a strong free market and an open trading economy for the future," they say.
De Wever's party, N-VA, is a Flemish nationalist, conservative right-wing party. Belgium has a Flemish and a francophone right-wing liberal party, Open VLD and MR.
#FlandersNewsService | Bart De Wever and Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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