Rubin Report - Dave Rubin - What You Haven’t Been Told About Brussels | Tom Van Grieken
Aired: 2026-03-30
Duration: 07:26


=== Belgium's Fortress Europe (07:03) ===

[00:00:07]  All right, Tom Van Grieken, you are officially the first member of Belgian parliament I have ever had on the show.
[00:00:13]  How does that make you feel?
[00:00:15]  A bit special, but we have a lot of members of parliament.
[00:00:18]  We have a lot of parliaments.
[00:00:20]  Belgium is a very difficult system.
[00:00:21]  That's where they invented the EU, also an unworkable system.
[00:00:25]  So we actually had a great chat that unfortunately was not recorded this morning in the lobby of the hotel.
[00:00:29]  So we're going to recap some of that.
[00:00:30]  And you just gave a keynote speech downstairs.
[00:00:33]  I'd like to bring up a few of the points that you made.
[00:00:36]  But just tell me a little bit about Belgium that we don't know about.
[00:00:39]  Like people think about waffles and chocolate.
[00:00:44]  French fries are actually our country.
[00:00:46]  But you should know, quick recap, very brief.
[00:00:49]  Belgium is not one nation.
[00:00:50]  They're actually two people living together.
[00:00:53]  The north is 60% of the population are Flemish, which I am.
[00:00:56]  And the south is French-speaking, Wallunians.
[00:00:59]  And we've never been in one country and actually does not function.
[00:01:03]  To understand the two little things, each year, $12 billion goes from the north to the south.
[00:01:11]  Another thing, you have our votes are less worth as Flemish than the French.
[00:01:16]  You need one-third more votes for a Flemish seat than a French seat.
[00:01:20]  Why is that?
[00:01:20]  Because Belgium was created as a neutral state between Germany and France and was created as a French-speaking state, although the majority was Dutch-speaking.
[00:01:29]  So Belgian politics is very difficult, but we speak the same language as the Dutch.
[00:01:34]  We speak Dutch.
[00:01:34]  But we had really a big, big fight for more than 100 years to simply speak our own language.
[00:01:40]  The oldest Dutch university is only 100 years old and Belgium exists 200 years.
[00:01:46]  So for us, our language, our identity, our culture, it's not a battle we just discovered.
[00:01:51]  It's a battle for more than 200 years.
[00:01:53]  And we're still standing.
[00:01:55]  If you believe in yourself, you have a good people and good leaders, you can survive.
[00:01:59]  And so you are the leader of the largest right-wing party in Belgium.
[00:02:02]  Tell me a little bit about your political landscape right now.
[00:02:05]  Well, maybe for, because it's an international podcast, we call ourselves Flemish nationalists.
[00:02:09]  I know nationalists in an American atmosphere, it's like a bit controversial, which is not in my country.
[00:02:15]  Our prime minister calls himself also Flemish nationalist.
[00:02:18]  So it's not that controversial, but we strive to our own nation.
[00:02:21]  We believe every people has the right to self-determination of people.
[00:02:25]  We need our own state.
[00:02:26]  That's maybe atypical as a right-wing party.
[00:02:29]  But if we have that own state, we want it to be secure and safe.
[00:02:33]  We want to protect our Western identity.
[00:02:36]  And that's what we're fighting for.
[00:02:38]  We are a Christian, historic country, and we want to stop mass immigration, protecting our borders.
[00:02:45]  It's not because of hate for what is outside the borders.
[00:02:48]  It's because of pure love for what is inside the border.
[00:02:52]  And where are you guys on the border situation right now?
[00:02:54]  I mean, are you as bad as Western Europe?
[00:02:57]  We're the exception.
[00:02:58]  We've seen what happened.
[00:02:59]  You know, the capital of Belgium, Brussels, 80%, 80% is non-Belgium.
[00:03:04]  My city, Antwerp.
[00:03:06]  The second thing is, if you go, 50% is non-Belgium.
[00:03:10]  We are a minority in our own country.
[00:03:12]  Therefore, our immigration policy is very, very easy.
[00:03:16]  Make a fortress Europe.
[00:03:18]  Close the European borders.
[00:03:20]  The internal border should be controlled.
[00:03:21]  And last but not least, we should send back illegals and criminals who should work on re-migration program.
[00:03:30]  They make a terrible world to live in, not only for the Flemish people who lived there for hundreds and hundreds of years, but also for all the new people who came in, who really share our values and want to share future.
[00:03:43]  Because for them, it's really the criminals, the illegals, they give them a bad image.
[00:03:47]  And we can only work together and build a new nation if we get rid of the bad apples.
[00:03:54]  So when everyone else in Europe is complaining about Europe, they're always talking about the bureaucrats in Brussels.
[00:03:59]  It is.
[00:04:00]  Tell me about these bureaucrats.
[00:04:01]  Are they all in one office?
[00:04:03]  What's going on over there?
[00:04:04]  Well, I think we're a bit too young, but to ever visit the Soviet Union.
[00:04:09]  But I think you can imagine it is the same.
[00:04:11]  If you're driving to Brussels, I should invite you.
[00:04:13]  No, I would love to go.
[00:04:14]  I would love to go.
[00:04:15]  Buildings without any soul where the architecture is just plain buildings with big flags, blue flags, the stars.
[00:04:22]  It's like the companies.
[00:04:23]  There were red stars and hammers and sickles.
[00:04:27]  There was blue flags and yellow stars.
[00:04:29]  And they're all working very hard, finding rules nobody knew they exist, being a pain in the ass for entrepreneurs as normal people.
[00:04:39]  Are most of them actually Belgian originally?
[00:04:41]  No, most of them were just imported from the other European nations.
[00:04:45]  They come from all of Europe and they come here.
[00:04:46]  They stay in their little bubble.
[00:04:48]  If they say Brussels is nice, yeah, go to the European bubble.
[00:04:51]  A lot of good restaurants, high wages, low taxes they pay.
[00:04:55]  But if they go three or four strikes further, yeah, it's it is President Trump called Brussels a hellhole.
[00:05:02]  He's right.
[00:05:03]  Did you know one number I give you?
[00:05:06]  Belgium was per capita the main supplier of foreign IX terrorists.
[00:05:13]  The ones who played the attacks in all of Europe, in Madrid, in Paris, in Brussels, they lived in Molenbeek, which is a part of Brussels.
[00:05:21]  So yeah, if you talk about those civil servants of the European Union, they live in a bubble.
[00:05:27]  In the weekend, they disappear, but they're doing actually nothing.
[00:05:31]  If they're not there, we wouldn't care less.
[00:05:34]  So let's finish with the country that we're in right now.
[00:05:36]  And you let a chant at the end of your speech for Viktor Orban.
[00:05:41]  Do you feel that this election, which most people think is going to go in his direction, but anything could happen, do you feel that it's a bellwether to sort of save whatever is savable in Europe?
[00:05:52]  Well, I met Victor a few years ago, and I was already part of it.
[00:05:56]  I won elections, but when I was at his office, I was like, wow, what should I say to such a monument as Viktor Orban?
[00:06:02]  And I didn't prepare much, as I only said one thing.
[00:06:05]  Mr. Orban, I only have one thing to say to you.
[00:06:09]  Please keep fighting and winning because you're not fighting for Hungary.
[00:06:13]  I think Europe is lost in the West of Europe, but you can save the soul of Europe.
[00:06:18]  That's why it's so important that Viktor Orban wins the elections.
[00:06:23]  And therefore, I'm here because I'm a friend of Viktor Orban, and that's what friends do in difficult times, stick together.
[00:06:28]  But more importantly, I'm here because this election is not about only the future of Hungary.
[00:06:34]  It's about the future of Europe because this is truly a fortress, a conservative Europe.
[00:06:40]  If we lose this fortress, it will be a very difficult battle once again for us.
[00:06:45]  We need Orban and Hungary.
[00:06:48]  We need the Czech Republic and maybe in a few months we also have France and then it's a whole different ballgame and then the real conservative wave will come and nothing will stop us.
[00:06:57]  Right, France is the big if.
[00:06:59]  We shall see.
[00:06:59]  I'm going to take you up on that offer to visit Belgium.
[00:07:03]  I want to go to one of these fancy restaurants and see what these bureaucrats are doing.
[00:07:06]  But first you have to look at Molenbeek where all the Islamic terrorists come from.

=== The Conservative Wave (00:16) ===

[00:07:10]  Dave, nice talking to you.
[00:07:11]  Pleasure.
[00:07:12]  If you want a more worldly perspective on current events, check out our international playlist.
[00:07:16]  And if you want to watch full interviews on a wide variety of topics, watch our full episode playlist all right over here.
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