An order from the local Brussels mayor cited public safety as a reason to shut down the National Conservatism Conference hosting Europe’s biggest conservative hitters.
A major conference in Brussels hosting some of Europe’s most prominent conservative politicians has been shut down by police officers under the order of the local left-wing mayor.
The two-day National Conservatism Conference finally went ahead early on Tuesday having secured a third venue to host the event after two other premises in the Belgian capital pulled the plug on holding it due to political pressure from local politicians.
Conservative broadcaster Nigel Farage and former U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman were due to deliver keynote speeches on Tuesday, followed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday.
However, after little more than an hour, Belgian police arrived at the entrance of The Claridge building in downtown Brussels with an order from Emir Kir, mayor of the city’s Saint-Josse-ten-Noode region, to scrap the event.