A remigration rally has gone ahead outside the European Parliament in Brussels after Belgium’s Council of State struck down a mayoral ban hours before it was due to begin.
Supporters gathered at the place du Luxembourg on the afternoon of July 15, in front of a platform draped with a banner reading “Remigration”. Police were deployed around the square.
The protest was called by the Save Europe Act campaign, which wants an EU-wide halt to non-European immigration, faster deportations and a voluntary remigration framework. Organisers say they have collected more than 500,000 signatures.
Austrian activist Martin Sellner told the crowd from the podium: “We won.” Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek, who launched the initiative with him on May 31, also spoke.
Dries Van Langenhove, a former Vlaams Belang MP convicted twice under Belgium’s anti-racism law, addressed supporters in front of signed copies of the petition.
Counter-demonstrators from groups that call themselves “anti-fascist” mobilised close to the European Parliament to denounce the event.
A parliament employee told the same newspaper she did not feel safe knowing such people worked in the same offices as her.
The rally had been prohibited on July 14 by the mayor of Ixelles, Romain De Reusme of the Parti Socialiste, whose commune covers the square. He cited disorder at an earlier march in Leuven by the Nationalistische Studentenvereniging (NSV), the student group behind the event.
The Council of State annulled that order shortly after midday. De Reusme said he was extremely angry, called the outcome democratic suicide and complained the ruling left him no time to issue a fresh ban.
A court reached a similar conclusion in 2024, ruling that free expression and assembly rights were breached when police shut down the National Conservatism Conference.
The European Commission has told the campaign its proposal appears manifestly contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, arguing a moratorium on non-Western immigration would discriminate on grounds of race or ethnic origin.
