Dominiek Lootens-Stael (born ) is a Belgian lawyer and politician who is a member of

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 and a member of the

Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (; ) is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three federated Communities and regions of Be ...

Life and career

Lootens-Stael is the son of

Christian Flemish People's Union The Christian Flemish People's Union (, CVV) was an electoral alliance sympathetic to the Flemish Movement which stood at the 1954 general elections in Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Euro ...

politician and mayor of

Koekelare Koekelare (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Bovekerke, Koekelare proper and Zande. On 1 January 2006 Koekelare had a total population of 8,291. The total area is 39.1 ...

Etienne Lootens. He studied law at the

Catholic University of Brussels The ''Katholieke Universiteit Brussel'' (, ''Catholic University of Brussels'') was a Flemish university located in Brussels, founded in 1969 as ''University Faculties St Aloysius'' (UFSAL), in many ways the equivalent of a liberal arts college. It ...

. He was first elected to 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 ...

in 1995 as a member of the

Vlaams Blok Vlaams Blok (, VB; ) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.Erk, 2005, pp. 493-502. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. The part ...

party before becoming a member of its successor, Vlaams Belang until his term ended in 2004. Lootens-Stael is currently a member of the

for Vlaams Belang.

Controversies

In 2003, Lootens-Stael was due to visit the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

and the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

as part of a delegation of Flemish politicians, but was dropped from the delegation after he was accused of "interfering in the internal affairs of the Scottish parliament" and causing "diplomatic embarrassment" by Jean-Luc Vanraes, the chairman of the Council of the Flemish Community Commission. A number of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, including the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

had stated they would refuse to meet Lootens-Stael if he made the visit. The decision was criticised by fellow Vlaams Blok politician

Joris Van Hauthem Joris Van Hauthem (29 November 1963 – 25 March 2015) was a Belgian politician who was floor leader in the Belgian Senate for the Flemish movement Vlaams Belang party. He was born in Anderlecht, Brussels and lived in Lennik. He died at home o ...

. In 2017, Lootens-Stael was giving a speech in the Brussels Parliament when he was interrupted several times by sp.a politician Jef Van Damme who shouted over his speech.SP.A-politicus verliest zelfbeheersing: "Zwijg, gij bruine rakker"
De Redactie, 13 juni 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lootens-Stael, Dominiek 1965 births Living people Members of the Flemish Parliament Vlaams Belang politicians Members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region