A debate at a leading Brussels hotel had to be rearranged after what the organisers called a “cowardly” attack.
The discussion about the new Donald Trump era and geopolitics was due to be held at the Stanhope hotel near the city’s EU Quarter on Wednesday evening.
But, after eggs were thrown at the hotel, the organisers decided to find an alternative venue for the meeting earlier this week.
It s not known who was responsible, but the matter was reported to the police.
The debate was organised by Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), Central Europe’s leading educational institution and research centre. Speakers included James Orr, associate professor, University of Cambridge and chair of the Edmund Burke Foundation UK, and Guglielmo Picchi, director for International Relations of the Machiavelli Centre for Political and Strategic Studies and a former Italian undersecretary for Foreign Affairs.
MCC Brussels spokesman John O’Brien told this site, “We will not bow to mobs masquerading as defenders of kindness while using the tactics of authoritarianism to silence those they disagree with. The group’s actions, masked in righteous slogans, reek of the very fascism they claim to oppose.”
“What we witnessed was not a protest – it was a threat. And it was not only aimed at MCC Brussels. It was a warning shot to anyone – Left, Right, or Centre – who dares to challenge the militant orthodoxy of these self-appointed arbiters of acceptable thought.”
“It still went ahead. It was a tremendous success, 150 were there, and a great intellectual exchange which was also live-streamed.”
“We have written to interior minister in Belgium to ask them to sort this out as Brussels should never become an anti-free speech capital and people of all political persuasions need to make that happen.”
He added, “Silencing a think tank that dares to challenge the group think of the Brussels bubble has become the obsession of the intolerant establishment and their cowardly masked foot soldiers on the streets.”
“Since we came to the city two and a half years ago MCC Brussels has created a space for open dialogue, dissident ideas, and democratic debate. The numbers attending our meetings, reading our reports, and watching us online have been growing at a rapid pace as MCC Brussels becomes the leading think tank.”
He added, “We call on the leadership of Brussels, EU institutions, and defenders of democracy across the political spectrum to condemn these acts of political violence and intimidation. Free societies are not built by silencing dissent – they are built by debating it, confronting it, and allowing the people to decide.”
