Karim Van Overmeire (born 14 October 1964) is a Flemish politician, author, city planner and member of 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 ...

party. Karim Van Overmeire has a law degree from the University of Ghent. In 1990, he became a board member of the ''Vlaams Blok Jongeren,'' the youth wing of the former

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, in East Flanders and from 1992 to 1995 he was national chairman of the VBJ. In 1991, he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for Vlaams Blok and in 1995, became 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 Vlaams Blok and later Vlaams Belang. In 1996, Overmeire was involved in writing the controversial 70-point plan which was criticised by opposition politicians as racist. From 2004 to 2010, he chaired the committee of Foreign Affairs of the Flemish Parliament. In 2010, he left Vlaams Belang and joined the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) in 2011. After having been a member of different parliaments for 28 years, he decided not to stand in the 2019 elections. He was a member of the

European Alliance The European Alliance (EA) is a political group in the European Committee of the Regions composed of a mix of regionalist parties and independent members. It was established in 1996, with strong influence of the European Free Alliance, and has ...

Group at the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly (2004–2010) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. In that capacity, he served as an election observer in different countries, including Georgia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia, Kyrgyzstan and North Macedonia. Karim Van Overmeire lives in Aalst. Since 1995, he was continuously elected in the city council. In 2013, he was elected as 2nd Alderman in the city board, responsible for education, the local library, heritage and museum, integration and international relations. Under his leadership, ''Utopia'' was built: a combination of library and academy, named after Thomas More's perfect imaginary world. In 2019, Utopia was awarded the title of best library in Flanders. After the 2018 elections, Karim Van Overmeire was confirmed in the city board as 1st Alderman. Karim Van Overmeire is author of several books on Flemish politics, heritage and history. Bibliography * ''Eén Tegen Allen'' (1993) * ''Project Vlaamse Staat: een strategie naar onafhankelijkheid'' (1998) * ''De Guldensporenslag: het verhaal van een onmogelijke gebeurtenis'' (2001) * ''Het Verloren Vaderland'' (2005) * ''Vlaanderen onafhankelijk. Hoe moet dat dan?'' (2007) * ''Het Verdriet van de Zwarte Man. Een rondleiding achter de coulissen van de Aalsterse politiek'' (2011) * ''Honderd keer Vlaanderen. Straffe verhalen over het volk tussen Noordzee en Maas (2018)''

Notes

1964 births Living people Members of the 48th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the Flemish Parliament New Flemish Alliance politicians Politicians from Ghent Vlaams Belang politicians {{Flanders-politician-stub