The Flemish Rambo and Right-wing Extremism in Europe

https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-jurgen-conings-manhunt-culture-war/

The Flemish Rambo is dead but there are no sighs of relief in Brussels.

The fact that someone like Jürgen Conings would appear on the contemporary stage is surprising to no one. That extreme Right-wing ideology and behaviour should arise in Flanders also makes sense. Flemish hatred of Brussels has only grown in recent years. For them Brussels is the seat of Belgium, a country they view as an artificial nineteenth-century contrivance and it is also the seat of the European Union, a political entity that many have also come to hate as it represents the breakdown and disintegration of not just regional autonomy but traditional culture.

Politically betrayed by the state, these actors also feel betrayed by the economic system of globalisation which has undercut their economy. Unlike many Neoliberals they view economics as something connected to the larger society and as such globalisation has been a disaster. And yet, there is confusion on this point as fear of 'socialism' (whether real or imaginary) has led many to embrace Neoliberal policies, not understanding that such models actually lead to globalisation.

This confusion and anger has been fueled by the Covid crisis and the general rise of Right-wing politics in Europe - forces that in many cases are finding friends and forging alliances with elements of the Christian Right in the United States.

And now the EU has a real crisis – the Belgian Rambo, a heavily armed military-trained man who went off-script and off-grid, a man who threatened Belgium's version of Dr. Fauci spent over a month on the run and eluding capture. And though he's now been found dead (officially ruled a suicide), what's more disturbing for Brussels is that Conings seems to have garnered considerable support, and not just among Flemish nationalists. This is a nightmare scenario and one that seems more American than European in its style. And yet it's real and though uncomfortable for national and EU leaders, it's one they must face – or they're going to be looking at a January 6 incident. It's not out of the realm of possibility. The Conings episode may have ended but the larger story has not.

In the age of Trump, the extremes of the American Right are going to inspire the global audience and in particular their allies in Europe. How this story would end, no one knew but everyone fears this but a prologue. There's going to be more of this sort of thing in the years to come. Europe is being put the test and faces serious threats of fragmentation. The context is different and more complicated than what one finds in the United States, but they are not unrelated. Immigration, economic stresses, the breaking of the middle class, technology and changes to society – all of these things are exposing already existing cracks in society as well as generating new ones.