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

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

for the Flemish nationalist

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = , ...

party since 2019.

Biography

Claes studied law at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 stud ...

and the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. During his studies he was a member of the

Nationalistische Studentenvereniging The Nationalistische Studentenvereniging (NSV) (Dutch; "Nationalist Student Association") is a far-right Flemish nationalist student political group in Belgium, with chapters in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, West Flanders (including Bruges, R ...

and the

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). T ...

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. The company is present in 36 countries in five continents and employs about 13.000 people worldwide. In 2009 the company had 154 logistics platforms. Its headquarte ...

. 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: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...

for the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

region. During the

2019 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 26 May 2019, alongside the country's 2019 European Parliament election in Belgium, European and 2019 Belgian regional elections, regional elections. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives (Bel ...

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

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

presidential campaigns as examples of how to target voters.

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