Extreme-right Nation wants to march in Antwerp on 1 May

The Belgian far-right movement, Nation, has submitted a request to the City of Antwerp to hold a demonstration on Labour Day on the historic square Groenplaats, writes De Morgen. The Flemish Socialists of Sp.a and the far-left PVDA are scheduled to gather at the same time on the Grote Markt for a 1 May celebration. It is therefore questionable whether mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) will give his consent.

"The mayor will follow the advice of the local police, and that is still underway," spokesman Johan Vermant told the newspaper.

The application for the demonstration was filed by Hervé Van Laethem, who has been active in extreme-right groups in Wallonia since the 1980s. Nation, the largest extreme right-wing movement of French-speaking Belgium, would organise this demonstration together with smaller nationalist organisations like the Nieuw-Solidaristisch Alternatief (N-SA).

It is not the first time that nationalists want to come together in Antwerp on 1 May. In 2013, Mayor De Wever first gave his consent for an N-SA demonstration, but later retracted his decision after a negative police report.