Far-right congress denies access to Flemish journalists for being 'too woke'
Journalists from the Flemish public broadcaster VRT are not allowed to attend the European congress of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest at the end of April. The organisers consider the journalists to be "too woke", VRT NWS reported on Wednesday.
Many well-known far-right and conservative politicians will speak at the conference, including Tom Van Grieken, leader of Flanders' Vlaams Belang, Geert Wilders, founder of the Dutch PVV party, and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.
Several Dutch media, including NOS and de Volkskrant, also received emails saying they had been refused entry to the event.
"We look forward to welcoming you to future events when and if your organisation becomes significantly less woke"
"As organisers, we have to abide by one of the ironclad rules of the conference: CPAC is a NO WOKE ZONE," reads an email from the organisers. "We look forward to welcoming you to future events when and if your organisation becomes significantly less woke."
CPAC is an annual conference of right-wing conservative activists and politicians in the US, first organised in 1974 with Ronald Reagan as the keynote speaker. The event has become a rallying point for far-right conservatives and supporters of Donald Trump.
Hostility towards the press and media has been a recurring theme at recent CPAC events. Last year, a Guardian journalist was ejected from the Budapest conference by a security guard in the middle of an interview with former Republican senator Rick Santorum.
#FlandersNewsService | Hungarian PM Viktor Orban at CPAC Budapest 2022 © PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
Related news
