Dries Van Langenhove

Dries Van Langenhove (born 11 May, 1993, Dendermonde) is a Flemish-Belgian blogger, political activist and member of the Chamber of Representatives who is affiliated to the Vlaams Belang party.

Dries Van Langenhove
Member of the Chamber of Representatives
Assumed office
26 May 2019
Personal details
Born
Dries Van Langenhove

(1993-06-11) 11 June 1993
Dendermonde, Belgium
Political partyVlaams Belang
Alma materGhent University

Early life

Van Langenhove was born in Dendermonde and grew up in Opwijk. He initially began training as a plumber but later began studying as a law student at Ghent University.[1][2]

Politics

Van Langenhove was active in the NSV. When a lecture by State Secretary Theo Francken at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel was cancelled in 2017 after left-wing protesters shut down the event, Van Langenhove mobilized supporters from an internet group to organize further Francken events.[3] Until August 2017 he wrote on the conservative website SCEPTR on the issues of migration and integration.[4] Along with Vlaams Belang Jongeren and the NSV he helped to organise a demonstration in Brussels against the UN Global Compact on Migration. In 2019, he announced he was to stand as an independent MP for the Chamber of Representatives in the 2019 Federal election, and it was later confirmed by Tom Van Grieken that he would run affiliated to the Vlaams Belang party and head the VB's list in the Flemish Brabant region. He was elected to the Chamber with 39,295 preference votes.[5][6]

Controversy

In 2017, Van Langenhove set up a youth movement called Shield & Friends which participated in a number of political demonstrations. An investigation by the Belgian TV show Pano and journalist Tim Verheyden found that the group had shared content and memes on secret Facebook and Discord groups that were considered racist, sexist, extremist and antisemitic, as well as promoting violence and references to Nazi Germany.[7] The group was also investigated under potential breaches of the 1981 anti-racism law.[8] Van Langenhove denied involvement in sharing some of the content, however a disciplinary procedure was started by Ghent University which temporarily suspended him as a student.[1]

References
  1. "Dries Van Langenhove wil zitje in Raad van Bestuur UGent terug". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  2. Dries Bervoet (7 January 2018). "De val van een selfmade rechtse apostel". De Tijd. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. Jurgen Ceder (11 October 2017). "Praten met Dries Van Langenhove van Schild & Vrienden. "Aanstekelijk enthousiasme mag niet verloren gaan."". 't Pallieterke. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. "Posts van Dries Van Langenhove (gearchiveerd)". SCEPTR. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. Tobias Santens (26 May 2019). "Vlaams Belang grote winnaar van de verkiezingen, partij wordt tweede in Vlaanderen". Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  6. Stefan Grommen (9 January 2019). "Dries Van Langenhove van uiterst rechts Schild & Vrienden wordt lijsttrekker voor Vlaams Belang". VRT NWS. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  7. An Schoonjans (10 January 2019). "Persbericht - Gent - Onderzoek Schild & Vrienden". Parket Oost-Vlaanderen. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  8. "Dries Van Langenhove in verdenking gesteld wegens inbreuken op antiracismewet". De Standaard. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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