Cardinal Müller takes to stage despite police trying to close National Conservatism conference as political crackdown escalates in Brussels

Dramatic scenes in Brussels today at the National Conservatism conference offered a harrowing harbinger of what a police state in the heart of Europe might look like.

After the conference began, local Brussels police suddenly arrived at the Claridge building hosting the conference, and proceeded to set up a barricades in front of the event venue, preventing any further attendees, journalists or speakers from accessing the event, reports local media Brussels Signal.

Eric Zemmous, the French politician, who was due to appear at the conference but was barred from entering when he turned up, said the city’s left-wing mayor had deployed the police like a “private militia” to stop a conservative conference from happening in Brussels.

As the situation escalated, eventually Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo felt compelled to speak out:

“What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable,” the Belgium Prime Minister said on X. “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.”

The planned appearance of German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller at the conference managed to go ahead, though he was reportedly visibly shocked by the police standing a few feet away.

“This is like Nazi Germany,” the Cardinal said, according to Rod Dreher, the best-selling author who was also attending the conference.

“I never imagined that I would witness the banning of a peaceful political meeting in a supposedly free and democratic country,” Dreher wrote in his Substack column trying to make sense of the day’s events. “But that’s what nearly happened today in Belgium – in Brussels, the capital of the European Union.”

After police surrounded the venue at 12 p.m. on 16 April, an emergency legal challenge was filed by ADF International, an international legal organisation defending the religious liberty of Christians, regarding the decision of the local authorities to prohibit the conference from continuing.

ADF International had seen the order from the city, issued by Emir Kir, the mayor of the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode district in Brussels, where the conference venue is located, which cited the reasons for shutting down the conference as including: 

“[NatCon’s] vision is not only ethically conservative (e.g. hostility to the legalisation of abortion, same-sex unions, etc.) but also focused on the defence of ‘national sovereignty’, which implies, amongst other things, a ‘Eurosceptic’ attitude…”

The order also stated – apparently as justification for closing the conference down – that some of the speakers “are reputed to be traditionalists” and that the conference must be banned “to avoid foreseeable attacks on public order and peace”. 

The  National Conservatism conference had already had two venues cancel on it before securing a third hotel venue near the European Quarter, after which it appeared that the event could proceed normally and as planned. But as the conference got underway, it soon became clear that it would not be permitted to proceed normally and as planned.  

“Open dialogue is supposed to be at the core of European politics; yet here in the capital of the EU, a thoughtful exchange on policy has been shut down by unilateral decree,” said Paul Coleman, a British lawyer and Executive Director of ADF International, who was due to speak at the conference before he too was barred entry.

“This is a watershed moment where the true censorship crisis in Europe is on full public display.The crushing of political opinions opposed by those in power is something that should be relegated to the darker chapters of European history.”

Coleman added: “ADF International is supporting an emergency legal challenge against the mayor’s order to shut down the conference, arguing it is contrary to the fundamental rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly – the pillars of truly democratic societies.” 

The Brussels Signal reports that Belgian police entered the conference venue before turning around and leaving. It adds that based on information gained from a source, the authorities entered to officially serve the city’s notice but are not enforcing it as of yet – leaving the conference to continue in the meantime.

“What happened today is an updated form of Soviet communism,” British politician Nigel Farage, who attended the conference, wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “It says that no other view is allowed, that anybody that holds it is, by definition, mad, bad, and dangerous.”

In a recent Catholic Herald comment piece, Alex Klaushofer argues that Scotland’s new Hate Crime and Public Order Act is part of a trend in the Western world for the State to police our thoughts and values.

“In a way, I’m grateful for what happened, especially as Europe heads into EU parliamentary elections in June,” Dreher said. “Voters need to know exactly what their future will be if these cretins aren’t stopped…This has been a shocking event with profound repercussions for liberty in Europe.”

Photo: Screenshot from X of Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Brussels.

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