Thiriart returned to the political scene in the 1960s, after in 1960 Belgium had granted independence to the
Belgian Congo, which became the
Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), setting off the
Congo Crisis. Due to his strong opposition to this development, Thiriart became associated with the
Mouvement d'Action Civique (MAC), although he also became interested in a more international vision. Establishing links with French groups similarly opposed to
decolonization, Thiriart eventually became a
European nationalist, convinced of the need for a united Europe. As a result, he formed
Jeune Europe, a movement aiming to reach out across Europe, soon founding branches in
Italy,
Spain, and
France. In Belgium, he continued to co-operate with MAC, which enjoyed close ties to
Jeune Europe. Thiriart publicly disavowed
fascism and called
Nazism obsolete, but his movement was still accused of having a fascist basis, partly as a result of adopting as its emblem the
Celtic cross, a symbol widely used in
neo-fascism, and partly because in its weekly magazine
Jeune Europe it advertised the activities of the allegedly
neo-Nazi Hans-Ulrich Rudel, leader of the
Deutsche Reichspartei. With a policy that was both
Anti-American and Anti-
Soviet, Thiriart represented Europe as the true cradle of civilisation, and was opposed to uncontrolled immigration and
imperialism, instead supporting national liberation, sovereignty and
self-determination for all Europeans and what he called the "allied ethnicities" of Europe. Thiriart's views won him many enemies, on both the orthodox right and the left, this is partly due to the fact that he was highly influenced by the thinking of
Francis Parker Yockey. He denied that he was a Nazi, claiming to belong to the centre of the political spectrum. Thiriart attempted to put his ideas into practice by being instrumental in the formation of the
National Party of Europe, an unsuccessful attempt at creating a Europe-wide nationalist party. Seeking to support radical revolutionaries in
Latin America and
Black Power movements in the
United States, Thiriart began to develop the idea of creating
Political Soldiers and set up training camps to facilitate indoctrination. He also became an admirer of
Nicolae Ceauşescu, indicating a sympathy towards
Stalinism that displayed strong Nationalist characteristics. He also admired the
People's Republic of China for these same reasons. Historian
Walter Laqueur called his views a form of
fascist Maoism. According to US academic
George Michael, Thiriart served as an adviser to
Fatah of the
Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s. ==National Bolshevism and later life==