Left-wing protesters attacked politician Dries Van Langenhove while he was on his way to the controversial talk by Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner at Leuven University last night. Until earlier this year Van Langenhove served as an independent member of the far right Vlaams Belang group in the Belgian parliament. The Austrian Martin Sellner, who is known to sympathise with Adolf Hitler’s Nazis, came to speak at the request of NSV, the nationalist student association. Leuven University initially banned the lecture on security grounds, but the student union took the matter to court, which ruled in NSV’s favour. The association was required to hire a private firm to guarantee security.
Far-right Austrian activist Martin Sellner was welcome at Leuven University on Wednesday evening after all. The Austrian had been invited to give a reading at the request of the nationalist student association NSV. A fortnight ago, the university banned the lecture because it could not guarantee the safety of participants, but a judge did not follow that reasoning and the lecture could go ahead. To ensure security, the student union had to hire a private security firm. The police were also present to ensure that the lecture proceeded peacefully.
Last night a group of some 40 left-wing activists staged a march from Leuven Station to the auditorium where the lecture was taking place. During their march, they encountered politician Dries Van Langenhove, who was on his way to the lecture. It came to a skirmish between the leftist demonstrators and those accompanying Van Langenhove and police had to separate the two groups.
"It ended in some pushing and shoving and Dries Van Langenhove was assaulted in the process. The police immediately intervened and drew up an official report detailing those who had assaulted Van Langenhove," police officer Mathieu Caudron explained.
Other than the brief skirmish before the lecture, there were no more incidents. Around 100 NSV members and sympathisers listened to the talk.