The Swedish furnishings group includes an action against Flemish formation so that it stops using its brand “for political purposes”.
by Jean-Pierre Stroobants (Brussels, correspondent)
A little guy with a flag decorated with the Lion of Flanders and another placing his hand on his shoulder, which wears a Viking helmet and a yellow and blue shield. Above the image, the ikea brand, but diverted to signify “Kan Echt Anders immigrant”, ie “Immigration is really possible otherwise”.
The two characters smile, but the latest campaign of the Flemish far right party Vlaams Belang (“Flemish interest”) does not make the Swedish giant of the furniture laugh. His Belgian management says he is “dismayed” and decided, Tuesday, November 15, to undertake legal actions against the powerful xenophobic training chaired by Tom Van Grieken. The group evokes an attack on its image and its identity, and “formally disapproves of the use of its brand for political purposes”.
Reactive and very present on the networks, the Vlaams Belang was inspired by the program of Democrats in Sweden, the formation of the far right which supports the new conservative government of the Prime Minister, Ulf KrisSson. His “kit” of fifteen proposals, accompanied by a “assembly plan”, aims to convince the Flemish population that the party, so far banned from almost all levels of power and separated from other formations by a “health cord” , can also be frequentable.
strict speech, but a little smoother
To the violent speeches which formerly earned its ancestor, the Vlaams Blok, various convictions for racism and the obligation to get tired, the party now substitutes a strict speech, but a little more smoothed, in vogue in Italy or with The Democrats of Sweden.
Clearly inspired by these, he intends to limit family reunification draconianly, deprive free legal aid asylum seekers, allow in-depth examination of their mobile phones or tablets, control their income or facilitate searches at their home.
saying wanting to defend the “real” right to asylum, the party also sends a claw to the “lobby” which would prevent real refugees from obtaining a status. Finally, he intends to expand the list of “safe countries” – considered as not threatening individual freedoms – whose nationals would be exempt from the right to reside in Belgium.
The immediate and strong reaction of IKEA is probably also explained by the fact that the group does not want to see the doubtful past of its founder Ingvar Kamprad up to the surface. The billionaire had, before and after the Second World War, sympathies pronzies and was a close relative of Per Engdahl, the leader of the Swedish Nazi party. In 1998, he expressed his “bitter regrets” as to this period of his life.