1. Gerolf Emma Jozef Annemans was born on 8 November 1958 and is a Belgian lawyer, journalist and politician of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang and formerly of its predecessor, the Vlaams Blok.
18 Facts About Gerolf Annemans
1. 2.
Gerolf Annemans has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, and a city councilor in Antwerp since 2000.
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Gerolf Annemans served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives from 1987 to 2014, and as a city councilor in Brasschaat from 1994 to 2000.
4.
Gerolf Annemans was the former leader of the VB from 2012 to 2014, and led the Vlaams Blok and VB parliamentary groups from 1991 to 2013.
5.
Gerolf Annemans held a seat on the council of the university's law faculty and the UA governing and executive boards.
6.
Gerolf Annemans was the chief editor of the UA-newspaper and presidium member of Sofia, the guild of the Antwerp law students.
7.
Gerolf Annemans was briefly promoted to a chief editing position at 't Pallieterke but eventually opted for a career in politics.
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In 1985, Gerolf Annemans became a public activist of the Vlaams Blok, as he was offered the place of first substitute on the electoral list for the Belgian federal parliament in the constituency of Antwerp.
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Furthermore, Gerolf Annemans is a longstanding member of the city council of Antwerp, a prominent on the Vlaams Belang party board and former director of the Vlaams Belang political research department.
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Recently, Gerolf Annemans did not only present himself as a member of the Flemish Movement, but as a true republican.
11.
In that capacity, Gerolf Annemans took part in the Dutroux commission, the commission investigating the "Brabant massacres", the Dioxin affair commission, the Sabena commission, and the two commissions concerning the Fortis affair.
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Gerolf Annemans did not believe that the then successful Lijst Dedecker would be a temporary hype such as the former party ROSSEM had been.
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Furthermore, the book inspired Gerolf Annemans to conceive two manifestoes that gave more depth to the Vlaams Belang platform: the Hoofdstad-Manifest on Brussels, and the Europa-Manifest on the EU.
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On 16 December 2012, Gerolf Annemans was elected chairman of the Vlaams Belang.
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Gerolf Annemans succeeded Bruno Valkeniers after poor election results, where the party had lost over two-thirds of its electorate in its traditional stronghold Antwerp.
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Gerolf Annemans would move to the new Identity and Democracy group.
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Gerolf Annemans was placed third on the list as Vlaams Belang won the election.
18.
Gerolf Annemans would serve as treasurer of the new Patriots for Europe group.