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Brussels NatCon conference will continue freely after court overturns police barricade

Published

1 year ago

7 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Michael Haynes

Condemnation of Mayor Kir’s crackdown on NatCon was wide-ranging, and not merely from the dignitaries speaking at it. The British prime minister’s deputy spokesman called the scenes “extremely disturbing.”

Thanks to a successful challenge from pro-freedom legal organization ADF International, a Belgian court has struck down an order from the local authorities which saw an “international incident” created after police blockaded the National Conservatism conference in Brussels, Belgium yesterday. 

In an early morning announcement April 17, ADF International announced that a Belgian court “has struck down state censorship,” thus allowing the National Conservatism (or NatCon) conference to proceed undeterred into its second day today.

Via a press statement, ADF International wrote: 

In the decision, considered a victory for free speech, the court decided that ‘Article 26 of the Constitution [of Belgium] grants everyone the right to assemble peacefully,’ and although the mayor has the authority to make police ordinances in case of ‘serious disturbance of the public peace or other unforeseen events,’ in this case there was no sufficient threat of violence to justify this. 

The Court reasoned that ‘it does not seem possible to infer from the contested decision that a peace-disrupting effect is attributed to the congress itself.’ Rather, as the decision notes, ‘the threat to public order seems to be derived purely from the reactions that its organization might provoke among opponents.’

READ: Socialist Belgian mayor orders police to shut down event featuring Cardinal Müller, Orbán, Farage

The Brussels NatCon conference currently taking place was catapulted to the fore of international headlines on Tuesday, when local police moved to shut the event down, under orders of the local mayor. 

As LifeSiteNews reported, the Socialist mayor of the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode municipality – Emir Kir – ordered the police to shut down the two-day conference to “guarantee public safety.”

Footage and images flooded social media around midday, showing lines of police barricading the conference venue, prohibiting anyone from entering. Those already inside were not allowed back in if they left. 

The conference is hardly a fringe event. High-profile guests and speakers include Vatican prelate Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orbán, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, former U.K. politician and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, and previous U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The police clampdown was initiated as Braverman was arriving and Zemmour was refused entry by the police.

NatCon organizers also stated that the catering had been canceled, and participants only had limited access to water and food as the police were preventing the delivery of supplies. Those still effectively locked inside the conference venue by nightfall were able to partake of a gala dinner, and then left the building. 

Paul Coleman, ADF International’s executive director, shared an English translation of the police order on X yesterday afternoon. The mayor’s order cited the “ethically conservative” position espoused by speakers at NatCon, “e.g., hostility to legalized abortion, same-sex unions, etc.,” along with a “Eurosceptic” mindset among his reasons for deploying the police.

The conference, being held on premises operated by Claridge Events, had already been forced to find new venues on two occasions in the preceding days, as pressure was placed on them to cancel the conference due to its promotion of “conservative” talking points. 

The Claridge venue was the third home for the event. NatCon’s hastily found backup venue broke “its written contract” to host the event on Monday night, according to NatCon organizer Yoram Hazony, hours before the conference was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning. 

Welcoming the court ruling to allow NatCon to proceed unimpeded, Coleman stated:

While common sense and justice have prevailed, what happened yesterday is a dark mark on European democracy. No official should have the power to shut down free and peaceful assembly merely because he disagrees with what is being said. How can Brussels claim to be the heart of Europe if its officials only allow one side of the European conversation to be heard?

Coleman attested that Tuesday’s “kind of authoritarian censorship we have just witnessed belongs in the worst chapters of Europe’s history. Thankfully, the Court has acted swiftly to prevent the repression of our fundamental freedoms to both assembly and speech, thus protecting these essential characteristics of democracy for another day.”

Condemnation of Mayor Kir’s crackdown on NatCon was wide-ranging, and not merely from the dignitaries speaking at it. The British prime minister’s deputy spokesman called the scenes “extremely disturbing.”

“The Prime Minister is a strong supporter and advocate of free speech and believes it is fundamental to any democracy,” the spokesman added.

According to author and NatCon speaker Rod Dreher, Cardinal Müller went so far as to say the Belgian police action was “like Nazi Germany.” 

Belgium’s pro-EU Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also condemned the actions taken by local police, in a signal move made against the local mayor. Writing on X yesterday evening he stated that “[w]hat happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.”

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History in the making? Trump, Zelensky hold meeting about Ukraine war in Vatican ahead of Francis’ funeral

International

History in the making? Trump, Zelensky hold meeting about Ukraine war in Vatican ahead of Francis’ funeral

Published on April 26, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Stephen Kokx

Trump and Zelenksy held an impromptu 15-minute meeting inside the Vatican just moments before Francis’ funeral. The Ukrainian leader later said a ‘ceasefire’ was discussed.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met inside St. Peter’s Basilica today moments before the start of Pope Francis’ funeral.  

 

Trump and Zelensky were in Rome along with over 160 dignitaries, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Javier Milei of Argentina, and Prince William of the United Kingdom. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals. 

Trump and Zelenksy held an impromptu 15-minute meeting inside the Vatican while seated in two chairs. Zelenksy later said on X that their conversation involved discussing a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and forging a “reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.” 

Photographs circulating on social media showed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron also joined in on the conversation. They held private meetings with Zelensky as well. 

Trump’s social media team shared photos and videos of the president and his wife Melania. In one of them, Trump is seen meeting with New York Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is a longtime friend.  

Leaders from various non-Catholic religions attended the funeral as well, including Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Zoroastrians, though no Muslim or Jewish leaders were officially present per Vatican reporter Michael Haynes. Israel’s Foreign Ministry X account deleted several controversial posts it had initially issued after Francis’ death. Francis had been especially critical of the country’s war in Gaza, hinting on multiple occasions that it may constitute genocide. 

After landing in Rome for the funeral Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “a good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine.” He urged both countries to “meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’” 

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2025 Federal Election

Ottawa Confirms China interfering with 2025 federal election: Beijing Seeks to Block Joe Tay’s Election

Published on April 26, 2025

By

Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal election—an election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.

One week before Canadians head to the polls, Ottawa has confirmed an escalation in China’s election interference efforts, identifying Conservative candidate Joseph Tay as the target of a widespread and highly coordinated ongoing transnational repression campaign tied to the People’s Republic of China.

The SITE Task Force—Canada’s agency monitoring information threats during the election—formally disclosed today that Tay, the Conservative Party candidate for Don Valley North, is the victim of inauthentic online amplification, digital suppression, and reputational targeting orchestrated by networks aligned with Beijing’s foreign influence operations.

The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal election—an election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.

“This is not about a single post going viral,” SITE warned. “It is a series of deliberate and persistent activity across multiple platforms—a coordinated attempt to distort visibility, suppress legitimate discourse, and shape the information environment for Chinese-speaking voters in Canada.”

SITE said the most recent coordinated activity occurred in late March, when a Facebook post appeared denigrating Tay’s candidacy. “Posts like this one appeared en masse on March 24 and 25 and appear to be timed for the Conservative Party’s announcement that Tay would run in Don Valley North,” SITE stated in briefing materials.

One post, circulated widely in Chinese-language spaces, featured an image that read: “Wanted for national security reasons, Joe Tay looks to run for a seat in the Canadian Parliament; a successful bid would be a disaster. Is Canada about to become a fugitive’s paradise?”

Significantly, according to The Bureau’s analysis, the post’s message resembles earlier remarks made by then-Liberal MP Paul Chiang to a small group of Chinese journalists in Toronto in January—comments made shortly after Tay’s inclusion on a Hong Kong bounty list was first publicized.

Chiang reportedly told the journalists that Tay’s election would raise significant concern due to the bounty he faced, before suggesting that Tay could be turned over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto.

Tay, a Hong Kong-born human rights advocate, was named in December 2024 by Hong Kong authorities as one of six overseas dissidents subject to an international arrest warrant and monetary bounty. His photograph appeared on a wanted list offering cash rewards for information leading to his capture—an unprecedented move that Canadian officials condemned as a threat to national sovereignty.

“The decision by Hong Kong to issue international bounties and cancel the passports of democracy activists and former Hong Kong lawmakers is deplorable,” SITE stated today. “This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad—including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada—will not be tolerated.”

However, while facing an international wave of criticism, Prime Minister Mark Carney did tolerate his candidate’s alleged role in this activity. When asked earlier in the campaign whether he stood by Chiang, Carney said the Liberal MP retained his confidence. Chiang ultimately stepped down only after the RCMP confirmed it was reviewing the matter.

Chiang, who had been endorsed by Prime Minister Carney, was replaced as the Liberal candidate by Peter Yuen, the former Deputy Chief of the Toronto Police Service.

As The Bureau previously reported, Yuen traveled to Beijing in 2015 with a delegation of Ontario Chinese community leaders and politicians to attend a major military parade hosted by President Xi Jinping and the People’s Liberation Army—an event commemorating the Chinese Communist Party’s Second World War victory over Japan.

Yuen’s presence at that event—and his subsequent appearances at diaspora galas alongside leaders from the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), a group cited in national security reporting—has drawn media scrutiny.

Both Chiang and Yuen have stated that they strongly support Canada’s rule of law and deny any involvement in inappropriate activities.

According to SITE’s findings, Tay’s campaign has been the focus of two parallel strands of foreign influence since the beginning of the writ period. The first involves inauthentic and coordinated amplification of content related to Tay’s Hong Kong arrest warrant, including repeated efforts to cast doubt on his fitness for office. This activity has spanned multiple platforms commonly used by Chinese-speaking Canadians, including WeChat, Facebook, TikTok, RedNote, and Douyin.

The second strand is a deliberate suppression of Tay’s name in both simplified and traditional Chinese on platforms based in the People’s Republic of China. When users attempt to search for Tay, the platforms return only information related to the Hong Kong bounty—effectively erasing his campaign content and political biography from the digital public square.

While SITE noted that engagement levels with the disinformation remained limited, the timing, repetition, and cross-platform consistency led the Task Force to conclude this is a serious case of foreign interference.

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