A wave of politically charged vandalism swept through Belgium’s capital last week, as far-left activists unleashed an intimidation campaign targeting conference venues that have hosted events for MCC Brussels, a conservative think tank known for challenging the EU’s mainstream orthodoxy.
The culprits, a radical Antifa group calling itself Vigilance Cordon Sanitaire, took credit for plastering hate-laced posters on at least ten venues across Brussels. “Here we welcome the far-right #MCC,” read the slogans aimed squarely at pressuring owners into blacklisting the think tank. Among the defaced locations were prominent establishments like the Stanhope Hotel, NH Berlaymont, and the historic Solvay Library—some of the city’s top spots for political and academic gatherings.
Despite the aggressive stunt, none of the venues have buckled under the pressure. That said, MCC Brussels told European media that several have started imposing extra fees as a precautionary hedge against future vandalism.
“This isn’t protest—it’s ideological bullying,” said Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser (ADR/ECR), condemning the attacks as “totalitarian and deeply anti-democratic.” Flemish MEP Tom Vandendriessche (Vlaams Belang/PfE) echoed the outrage, arguing that MCC Brussels offers a rare platform in the EU capital for voices outside the progressive consensus.
“The think tank plays a key role in promoting debate and intellectual pluralism—something this city desperately lacked before MCC showed up,” Vandendriessche said. His own party has long faced similar hostility, including a violent mob attack on its Brussels HQ last year—likely by the same extremist circles who tried to derail French leader Jordan Bardella’s book launch on the same day.
Elisabeth Dieringer, an Austrian MEP with the FPÖ, also rejected the “far-right” label slapped onto MCC. “Our party is the largest in Austria—we represent a democratic majority,” she said. “Trying to silence us through vandalism and venue pressure undermines the very core of democracy: open discussion.”
Spanish MEP Jorge Buxadé (VOX/PfE), a lawyer and former academic, drew a chilling comparison, likening the campaign to Stalin-era political purges. “These tactics—defamation, blacklisting, pressure campaigns—smack of Soviet-style repression,” he warned. “MCC promotes values completely at odds with those trying to erase it.”
This isn’t MCC’s first brush with Brussels’ activist backlash. During last year’s National Conservatism Conference—Europe’s biggest right-leaning gathering and co-hosted by MCC—venues dropped out under threat, and armed police tried to shut the event down. That heavy-handed response was so controversial, even Belgium’s Prime Minister distanced himself from the move.
In another incident, a Brussels bookstore pulled the plug on MCC director Frank Furedi’s book launch, allegedly after pressure from progressive journalists. The store’s stated reason? Hosting the event conflicted with its mission as an “inclusive space.”
But this latest round of harassment may be more coordinated than it appears. As Antifa’s posters hit the streets, the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)—funded by George Soros’s Open Society Foundations—dropped a critical article accusing MCC of financial noncompliance. The group alleged that MCC hadn’t submitted 2024 records to the EU Transparency Register. Yet MCC’s Head of Communications, John O’Brien, swiftly pushed back, clarifying that the legal deadline isn’t until August 2025 and that the claim of an investigation was completely unfounded.
“This isn’t about transparency. It’s about silencing dissent,” Furedi argued, noting that MCC’s push to expose EU opacity had struck a nerve. “The smear campaign, funded by those who benefit from the current order, is meant to cripple our credibility and push us out of public life. But we’re not going anywhere.”
With Europe’s ideological battles intensifying ahead of a pivotal election year, MCC Brussels finds itself in the crosshairs—not just of fringe activists, but of a broader establishment threatened by its message.
