Theo Francken
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Theo Francken (born 7 February 1978) is a Belgian politician who has been a member of the Chamber of Representatives since 2010. He is a member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a conservative Flemish nationalist party.
Francken was made state secretary for asylum and migration in the second Charles Michel cabinet in 2014, where he became prominent for his controversial zero tolerance approach to illegal immigration in the midst of the European migrant crisis. Francken and the N-VA opposed Belgium's support of the Global Compact for Migration, leading them to exit the coalition government in December 2018 and thereby trigger its collapse.
Political career
Theo Francken does not hail from a political family. Neither of his parents were involved in politics. Theo Francken acquired his interest in politics during high school, were he became inspired by his history teachers instructing him on the struggle of Flemings to achieve cultural and linguistical rights within the Belgian state during the 19th and 20th centuries. After graduating from university, Francken became a scientific collaborator for N-VA at the Flemish parliament (2001 – 2004). From 2005 till 2008 he was councillor and from 2009 till 2010 deputy head of cabinet in with Flemish Vice-Minister-President Geert Bourgeois, focussing on issues such as integration policy. Theo Francken founded a local N-VA-branch in his native town Lubbeek, leading it to the ballot box in the municipal elections of 2006. However, with only 4.96% of the votes, N-VA did not manage to win any of the seats in the municipal council.
At the federal elections in 2010, Theo Francken was head of the list for the province of Vlaams-Brabant, campaigning on issues like asylum, migration and integration.
