The “authoritarian” order to shut down a political conference of European populists and conservatives on Tuesday was emblematic of the “last-ditch” efforts of globalist forces seeking to cling on to power by any means, a French Member of the European Parliament who was blocked by police from entering the event told Breitbart News.
On Tuesday, the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) at the Claridge, near the European Quarter of Brussels, was blockaded by police after they were ordered to shut down the event by socialist municipal Mayor Emir Kir.
The police reportedly cited security concerns over stated plans from Antifa to protest the conference, however, Kir admitted according to Sky News that his decision was prompted to show that the “far-right is not welcome” in Brussels.
The conference, organised by the American Edmund Burke Foundation and the Brussels-based Mathias Corvinus Collegium think tank, was surrounded and blocked off by police as Brexit leader Nigel Farage was delivering remarks on stage. Other speakers on Tuesday included former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who slammed the actions of the “thought police” in trying to shut down the event.
Some scheduled speakers, such as former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour and and National Rally (RN) Member of European Parliament Patricia Chagnon were even barred by police from entering the venue at all.
Speaking to Breitbart London, Chagnon said that seeing such a blatant act of censorship in the heart of the European Union were scenes one would expect to see in Communist China or the Soviet Union.
The French politician said that despite being an MEP, police barred her entry, saying that no one was allowed into the venue. When pressed as to why they were blocking her, Chagnon said that the officers highlighted the danger of supposed counterdemonstrations, even though the eventual protest turned out to be very small.
“When I actually started to understand what was going on this morning, it was like a punch in my stomach as a French citizen, being profoundly attached to Europe, we can’t even have a debate… This makes you think of what it would be like to live under communism in Russia or China but we are in Western Europe, it is really scary.”
“This is the most horrendous, authoritarian, ideologically motivated suppression that you could possibly imagine… You sort of stand there and go; ‘right, all the EU legislation that push through, this is what it all boils down to’.”
“I’m a politician, I welcome debate, I will debate anyone, anywhere on any subject. I believe in free speech, in debate, in opposing ideas, in differing visions of society but I don’t believe that just because I don’t like you, you can’t talk,” she said.
Chagnon argued that the incident demonstrated that globalist elites throughout Europe are “petrified of what’s around the corner… the people taking back control and defending their rights.”
The French lawmaker said that rising populist sentiment and rejection of the “woke de-growth” agenda has been typified by the revolt of European farmers against the green agenda, which has seen tractor protests throughout the bloc, shutting down major motorways and city centres from Portugal to Poland over the past year.
She said that unlike other populist movements of the past, the farmer’s revolt has truly scared the neoliberal elites in the halls of power in Berlin, Brussels Paris and others not only because of their ability to cause major disruptions but rather because the farmers enjoy widespread popular support among the populations of Europe.
“It is hitting a strain with the general population because the complaints of the farmers are a condensation of what people are experiencing every day, with the farmers saying that we can’t pay for our heating anymore, we can’t pay for the fuel for our tractors anymore and the people are saying that they can’t afford these things either.”
Chagnon also noted that from her conversations with farmers groups from various countries, there is a realisation that although the problems facing farmers may differ from country to country, with Dutch farmers facing green restrictions on nitrogen emissions while Polish farmers face unfair competition from the import of cheap agricultural goods from Ukraine, that ultimately “the common enemy is there in Brussels, that all their misery is coming from Brussels”.
With less than two months out from the upcoming European Parliament elections, in which pro-farmer and anti-globalist parties, including her own National Rally, set to make large gains, Chagnon said that there is a broader effort throughout Europe to “stifle” free speech and therefore clamp down on the populist uprisings occurring.
However, ultimately she said that she believes censorship efforts, including the attempted shutdown of the NatCon conference on Tuesday, are merely last-ditch attempts to hold down the people that they are doomed to fail while pointing to the recent shelving of the green agenda Nature Restoration Law as evidence that the tide turning against Brussels.
“I see it as a last desperate attempt by those in power to stay there… but I believe in the power of the people, that it is going to bring them down and to give the people their voice again.”
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