Frans Baert

Frans Baert (25 November 1925 – 15 July 2022) was a Belgian-Flemish lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Volksunie party, before joining the Sociaal-Liberale Partij.

Life and career

Baert was born in Grembergen on 25 November 1925. He died on 15 July 2022, at the age of 96.^[1]

Frans Baert's doctrine

Baert was the founder of a methodology, known in Dutch as Baertdoctrine; regarding Flemish independence.^[2] This doctrine,^[3] taken by some Flemish politicians, is a step-by-step strategy in order to get an independent Flemish State through democratic reforms of Belgium.

Each reform must follow three basic rules in order to reach a Flemish independence at the end:

1. Each reform must be a significant step towards greater autonomy.
2. Each reform should not prevent further reforms.
3. Inside each reform, the price paid to the other negotiator should not be unreasonable.

References

1. "Frans Baert". InMemoriam.be. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
2. Harry Van Velthoven, Karen Celis, Jasmien van Daele (2011) Waarheen met België?: van taalstrijd tot communautaire conflicten. p. 356
3. "RTBF Auvio : toute l'offre audio, vidéo et direct de la RTBF". RTBF.