Authorities in Brussels have ordered the closure of a right-wing conference that was due to hear from British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.
Emir Kir, the mayor of Brussels district Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, said he had issued an order banning the National Conservatism conference from taking place on Tuesday “to guarantee public safety”.
He added: “In Etterbeek, in Brussels City and in Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome.”
The conference had already struggled to find a venue, with two event spaces cancelling the National Conservatives’ booking in the face of public pressure – leading organisers to accuse the Brussels mayor Philippe Close of seeking to “cancel” the event.
According to a report on social media, police arrived while Mr Farage, the honorary president of Reform UK, was addressing the event, giving attendees 15 minutes to leave the venue.
Footage later showed police officers entering the venue.
The conference had been due to hear from two Conservative MPs, Ms Braverman and Miriam Cates, later on Tuesday, before hosting a speech by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday.
Rishi Sunak had faced pressure to block Ms Braverman’s attendance at the conference, with Labour shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth urging him to stop the former home secretary “giving oxygen to these divisive and dangerous individuals”.
Under Boris Johnson’s government in 2020, Conservative backbencher Daniel Kawczynski was reprimanded for attending a National Conservatism conference in Rome, with a Tory spokesman condemning the views of some other speakers, including Mr Orban.
Both Ms Braverman and Ms Cates addressed the National Conservatism conference in London last year, which was disrupted by protesters.
