Frank Arthur Hyppolite Vanhecke (born 30 May 1959) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

politician. Vanhecke started his career in Belgian politics as a student by joining the Jong Studentenverbond and later 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 ...

. He gave up his membership of the

Volksunie People's Union ( nl, Volksunie, VU) was a Flemish nationalist political party in Belgium, formed in 1954 as a successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union. The Volksunie defined itself as a big tent and catch-all party that combined suppor ...

in 1977 after it acceded to a much-debated package of federal reforms. Vanhecke subsequently joined the Vlaams Nationale Partij, the predecessor of the

Vlaams Blok ''Vlaams Blok'' ( en, Flemish Block, or 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 ...

. Quickly climbing the party ranks, he became responsible for the party's press and media communication in 1986 and worked from 1989 as a personal assistant to

Karel Dillen Karel Cornelia Constantijn Dillen (16 October 1925 – 27 April 2007) was a far-right Belgian politician and Flemish nationalist. Life According to Paul Beliën, editor of the Brussels Journal, "Dillen came from a non-political background. ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, until he was elected to a Parliamentary seat himself in 1994. After a short term in the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parlia ...

, Vanhecke returned to European politics after the elections in 2004. Vanhecke sat on its

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

, and is a substitute for the

Committee on Development The Committee on Development (Commission du développement, DEVE) is a committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with deve ...

and a member of the Delegation for relations with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and to the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

(EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee. His voting record in the European Parliament shows his clear pro-life stance. When

resigned from his post as chairman of the Vlaams Blok in 1996, Vanhecke was designated as his successor. He was elected in 2001. In November 2004 the

was dissolved and a new political party was created under the name

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

. Vanhecke was appointed chairman of this new party, a role he performed until 2008. Vanhecke left Vlaams Belang in 2011, one of several high profile members at the time to quit the party, and finished the remainder of his term as an MEP as an independent and joined the

Europe of Freedom and Democracy Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. The group was formed following the 2009 European parliamentary election, mostly composed of elements of the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) and ...

group. He subsequently announced his support for 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 but was refused membership due to his political past.

Education

* 1981:

Degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in literature and philosophy - communication sciences

Career

* 1996-2008: General Chairman of the Vlaams Blok * 1994-1996 and since 2000: Member of the Bruges

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

(group chairman) * 1994-2003 and since 2004:

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

* 2003-2004: Group

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

in the Senate * 1989-1994: Deputy Secretary-General,

Technical Group of the European Right Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...

References

External links

MEP website of Frank Vanhecke
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanhecke, Frank 1959 births Living people Politicians from Bruges People's Union (Belgium) politicians Vlaams Belang MEPs MEPs for Belgium 2004–2009 MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014

Education

Career

See also

References

External links