Jason Stanley has opined that De Wever is a master of "polite xenophobia" whereas Belgian political scientist Carl Devos argues that De Wever is to the right of most mainstream Belgian politicians and takes a firmer stance on immigration and integration issues but is not xenophobic or populist. Professor of digital media and politics Ico Maly has argued that De Wever's political communication consists of four ideological components: defense of enlightenment, neoliberalism and Flemish nationalism. According to Maly, De Wever argues for a culturally homogeneous nation preserved with the existing order. Newcomers can join the community if they subscribe to the identity of that ethnic nation and if they promote and maintain the moral order. De Wever has called for stricter policies on immigration and integration, including compulsory language tests for immigrants. De Wever has also spoken in favour of the Greater Netherlands concept in which Flanders and the Netherlands can potentially be united into the same country or under a federal agreement, arguing that Dutch and Flemings are "the same people separated by the same language." De Wever has expressed criticism of the cordon sanitaire placed on the Vlaams Belang (VB) party (), describing it as undemocratic and counterproductive, and following the 2019 Belgian federal election stated that he was considering breaking it to include the VB as a potential coalition partner. Although De Wever and the N-VA held official talks with the VB in 2019, they ultimately did not form an agreement. Controversies In 1996, he was photographed attending a conference held by the French extreme-right Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. De Wever justified his attendance by arguing In October 2007, in reaction to the apology of the Mayor of Antwerp for his city's collaboration in the deportation of Jews during World War II, Bart De Wever said that: "Antwerp did not organise the deportation of the Jews, it was the victim of Nazi occupation ... Those who were in power at the time had to take tricky decisions in difficult times. I don't find it very courageous to stigmatise them now." He later issued an apology to representatives of Antwerp's Jewish community. Following these events, in an op-ed published in Le Monde, the Belgian French-speaking writer Pierre Mertens claimed that Bart De Wever was a "convinced negationist leader". De Wever sued Mertens for this allegation. In July 2016, he called Angela Merkel personally responsible for the