Bart Claes (born 8 April 1989) is a Belgian politician who has been a member of the

Flemish parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

for the Flemish nationalist

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

party since 2019.

Biography

Claes was born in

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

and grew up in

Rumst Rumst (, old spelling: ''Rumpst'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. Since 1976 the municipality not only comprises Rumst proper but also the towns of (old spell ...

. His father Luc Claes was a councilor for the

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( ; N-VA) is a Flemish Movement, Flemish nationalist, Conservatism, conservative Political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-na ...

and the alderman in Rumst. He studied law at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

and the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

. During his studies Claes was a member of the

Nationalistische Studentenvereniging The Nationalistische Studentenvereniging (NSV!) (Dutch language, Dutch; "Nationalist Student Association") is a far-right Flemish Movement, Flemish nationalist student political group in Belgium, with chapters in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, W ...

and the

party. In 2014 he left the N-VA due to disagreeing with the course of the party and joined Vlaams Belang. After graduating, Claes worked for

Katoen Natie Katoen Natie is an international logistics service provider and port operator based in Antwerp, Belgium. The company is present in 36 countries in five continents and employs about 13,000 people worldwide. In 2009 the company had 154 logistic ...

. From 2016 to 2020, Claes was chairman of the ''

Vlaams Belang Jongeren ''Vlaams Belang Jongeren'' (VBJ; Dutch for "Flemish Interest Youth") is the youth wing of the Vlaams Belang party. Until the conviction of the Vlaams Blok in 2004, the organisation was called Vlaams Blok Jongeren. When the party changed its name, ...

.'' In 2019, Claes was elected as a member of the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

for the

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

region. During the

2019 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 26 May 2019, alongside the country's European and regional elections. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected from eleven multi-member constituencies. The far right-wing Vlaams ...

, Claes managed the VB's election campaign and claimed that he looked to both the

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

presidential campaigns as examples of how to target voters. In 2020, Claes received criticism from the Flemish

Groen! Groen (; ), founded as Agalev, is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. The main pillars of the party are social justice, human rights, and ecologism. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations wit ...

party after sharing a post on Twitter referring to

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

Belgian Minister Petra De Sutter as "the personification of

cultural Marxism "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory that misrepresents Western Marxism (especially the Frankfurt School) as being responsible for modern progressive movements, identity politics, and political correctness. ...

." Flemish Parliament speaker Liesbeth Homans described Claes' tweet as "reprehensible" but said she defended his right to freedom of expression. Claes later claimed his remark was partially taken out of context.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claes, Bart Living people 1989 births Vlaams Belang politicians Members of the Flemish Parliament New Flemish Alliance politicians University of Antwerp alumni Ghent University alumni Politicians from Mechelen