Author: Carter McLellan – Date: December 21, 2021

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Basic history and details
3. Network analysis
4. Conclusion
5. Appendix A: Cercle des Nations membership list
6. Appendix B: Cercle de Lorraine membership list
7. Notes

Introduction

In Belgium there have been numerous prominent clubs, but one appears to stand out in particular from the rest: the Cercle des Nations. Centered in Brussels, its scope was a truly international, but curiously aligned with the Conservative establishment. The club was followed up in the 1990s-2010s by the Cercle de Lorraine. Then aligned more with the Liberal establishment, the latter became known as the most exclusive club in Belgium. The club ceased to exist in 2020-2021, with the development of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Sources about this club in English were hard to come by, the only significant source being ISGP Studies of Joel van der Reijden. ISGP provided most of the key information and names involved with the club, but sources in foreign languages were essential to filling in the picture. The Bende van Nijvel / Tueurs Brabant were helpful, but I still needed more. I then searched through David Teacher’s ‘Rogue Agents,’ availed at ISGP. Teacher’s work was incredibly valuable and led to the equally important work of Klaartjie Schrijvers, who provided additional information, including a list of members and the companies they represented at the Cercle. Shrijvers acquired these names from a full membership list from the 1980-‘81 period, which she found in the archives of Walter De Bock.

Basic history and details

The following composes a brief, but limited, summary of the history of the Cercle des Nations. Some of the key members and scandals involving them have been mentioned. However, the many other names, organizations and scandals have been left for the following chapter.

Little context

At the old Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, a man named Richard Van Wijck studied law and made a number of friends. At the university, Van Wijck founded the Ordre Estudiantin du Rouvre, which would be followed up by the Ordre du Rouvre, founded in 1964.

This order came into existence in the year just before Opus Dei officially began activity in Belgium. It existed for several years, until 1967, and came to include a limited amount of people, many of whom involved UCL colleges. Members included Jacques Jonet, Vincent van den Bossche and Paul Vankerkhoven. The students from UCL would be closely linked to the Paneuropa Union, Opus Dei, Knights of Malta and World Anti-Communist League (WACL). Van Wijck managed several companies but would soon need assistance from these men to create his idea of an international club in Brussels.

Founding, structure and protocols

On May 31, 1967, Richard Van Wijck and Paul Vankerkhoven established the limited company Cercle Cultural de la Cambre (CCC), located in a grand hotel on Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. 25, Brussels, Belgium. This location subsequently went through restorations for elegant salons. Through Van Wijck’s holding company Copaval in Luxembourg, the capital of the CCC was increased to 38 million Belgian francs. During that time, while Parti Social Chretiens (PSC) member Paul Vanden Boeynants was first Prime Minister of Belgium in 1966-1968, in the period of 1966-’67, NATO was ejected from France and resettled in Belgium, with HQs in Brussels, Mons, Evere and Castreau. This significantly impacted the activity of Operation Gladio in Belgium. In the 1960s, key PSC member and VdB associate Baron Benoit de Bonvoisin founded l’Institute Europeen de Developpement, located in his castle. Through his brewery group Unibra, Michel Relecom also founded the European Institute of Management (EIM). As the Vanden Boeynants I government fell, precipitated as a result of the Linguistic Crisis, men as Vankerkhoven and Florimond Damman were preparing for the major year of 1969.

A series of important organization were founded in the year of 1969. These organization included the CREC, the AESP, the MAUE, the LIL, the WTC and most notably for this article the Cercle des Nations. The impetus behind founding the Cercle des Nations came from Richard Van Wijck, who initiated its creation on May 26, 1969. Funding for the Cercle would come from Van Wijck’s CCC company. On April 3, 1969, the Cercle des Nations was officially founded by Van Wijck and Vankerkhoven, together with their allies, among them 81 founding members as Robert A. Remy, Jacques Jonet, Vincent van den Bossche. The Cercle was located at the same address as the CCC, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. 24, Brussels. The hotel was designed to be a very “aesthetic” environment with rooms decorated in Louis XV style, wooden staircases, crystal chandeliers and Persian carpets. Procedures would be very formal with strict protocols and requirements. The Cercle also had its own magazine l’Eventail, which involved Adelin van Ypersele de Strihou, Wijck and Remy.

Since 1970, the Cercle’s magazine L’Eventeil was led by Robert A. Remy, which published material utilized by Klaartjie Schrijvers to identify the following members from 1972-1977: “Florimond Damman and Aldo Mungo, in: l’Eventail, January ’77. Adelin Van Ypersele de Strihou, in: l’Eventail, 30/11/1973. Paul Rohr, in: l’Eventail, 6/6/1972. Luc Beyer de Rijke, in: l’Eventail, 29/11/1974. Jo Gérard, in: l’Eventail, 1 /11/1974. Gerard Hupin, in: l’Eventail, 11/7/1975.” Paul Vanden Boeynants was mentioned in “« Répression », Les Cahiers du Libre Examen, Cercle du libre exam de l’ULB, Brussels, ’71-’72, p. 13.)” Members were “especially welcome in the club because of the companies they represented, or because of their prominent role in the political or media world.” The club fulfilled a key link between Belgium and the Europe and involved important figures in the European movement.

Other possible early members: SAS Prince Rodolphe de Croÿ-Roeulx, Miron Dunaievski, Charles Gordinne, Raoul Jacquet, John Kervyn de Meerendre, Baron Paulus de Châtelet, Knight Baudouin Ruzette, Philippe Schepens, Count Hervé d’Ursel, Jean-Paul Van Gysel, Jacques Vercoutere and Georges Wolff. Baron de Bonvoisin and Paul Vanden Boeynants were said to have held early membership.

The club had certain conditions for admission and required strict codes of conduct. In order to gain admission, a candidate would have to be male, over 21 years old and supported by at least two founding members. A committee then would decide if on whether or not to accept or refuse the admission, without need for justification. Members were required to pay an annual fee, which certainly help supply funding for the organization. Once a member, he would receive a special card, which enabled access to bars, private salons and restaurants. However, there were strict timetables and required reservations. Members could also bring guests with the express approval of the board of directors.

Members could bring children if they were over 16 and their wives, but they were also subject to strict codes of conduct. However, guests had no access to the private salons, which were strictly reserved for members, ie the male public. The exception were the private salons where cards and billiards were played. There, with the express permission of the Secretary-General, a male outsider could be invited up to three times a year.

“Gradually, the Cercle des Nations affiliated itself with other clubs at home and abroad,” writes Schrijvers, “in order to make it more comfortable for their members on business trips. In the US, for example, in The Lotos Club in New York, or The University Club of Los Angeles and The Press Club of San Francisco, when showing their membership card to the Cercle des Nations, people could enjoy all the lodging and restaurant accommodations these clubs offer. In Belgium, the affiliated clubs were the Cercle Royal “La Concorde” and the Cercle Royal “La Philotaxe” in Antwerp, and the International Club of Flanders in Ghent. Other foreign affiliated clubs were located in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Austria, Scotland and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg). Also the Taipei International Businessmen’s Club of Taiwan and the Salisbury Club in Rhodesia granted them those privileges.” On May 2, 1974, Cercle merged with the Royal Automobile Club de Belgique. Around 1975, Wijck met Count Giorgio Gherardi Dandolo via Vankerkhoven who provided contacts to the jet set around Europe.

“The aim of the Cercle des Nations,” writes Schrijvers, “was to create a privileged (read discrete) meeting place between figures from the financial, political and media world, with the objective of promoting the international vocation of Brussels. This had to be achieved thanks to international cultural, diplomatic and economic contacts in Brussels. The aim was to make Brussels the most dynamic European and even global center.”

Larger picture

The apex of the Cercle’s activity appears to have been in the years of 1970-1985. In early 1970, the Cercle already stirred controversy. In April 1970, the Cercle held a reception of Greek colonels. This stirred a conflict at the nearby Catholic University of Louvain, where students clashed with Gendarmes. The Cercle’s magazine l’Eventail also continuously supported fascist regimes, be it the Greek colonels, the apartheid in South-Africa and the white-minority government in Rhodesia, Franco of Spain, Salazar of Portugal or Augusto Pinochet of Chile, whom Vankerkhoven interviewed. In January 1976, the Cercle held a celebration of 10th anniversary of Papa Doc’s Haitian dictatorship.

On June 23, 1970, the AESP and Cercle des Nations signed a mutual protocol of cooperation, preceding the long standing relationship to come between the two organizations. Also in 1970, Marcel de Roover died and was succeeded as chairman of CEDI Belgium by Jack de Spirlet. Vankerkhoven became secretary-general and moved CEDI Belgium to the Cercle, making space available. The MAUE and later the IEPS were also close to the Cercle. Since 1972, Vankerkhoven served as vice chair and would also provide a key link to the WACL. Links and similarities with organizations as Opus Dei and the Knights of Malta is something also worth mentioning.

On October 9, 1974, Jo Gerard, who founded the CEPIC together with Vanden Boeynants in 1972, gave a lecture at the Cercle des Nations about Carolingian era and the significance of Charlemagne, clearly displaying a desire for the revival of the Holy Roman Empire. This was an agenda that was found among the Hieron du Val d’Or, which was said to have been the predecessor of Opus Dei. Richard Codenhove-Kalergi and Otto von Habsburg, leaders of the Paneuropa Union, clearly identified with this veneration of Charlemagne.

As Schrijvers observed, “Charlemagne glorification or not, Brussels the dynamic center of the world or not, the whole series of “noble” aims and “cultural” lectures in which the Cercle des Nations reveled, however, disguised a deeper [esoteric?] agenda.”

Following a visit to the Cercle, in late 1971, Alain Contini wrote a letter to Florimond Damman. Following a pleasant opening, Contini wrote:

“I seek to increase contacts, while observing great discretion, eminent personalities who might be interested in our situation – although I may be deluding myself – given the economic and political objectives pursued, for example, by ‘Opus Dei or the Cercle des Nations. “We are all on the same side, if I may say so, since Maurrassians, Catholic fundamentalists, Europeans (but not just any Europe, of course!), Monarchists, etc.“

About the Cercle des Nations, author Herwig Lerouge wrote that, “Justice nevertheless knew that there was a criminal gang within Cercle des Nations which was active in haute finance, politics and the Brussels night life.”

Perhaps the culminating moment for the Cercle des Nations and its affiliated organizations as the AESP took place in 1978 with the formation of the short lived Cercle Charlemagne, which was to serve as a central secretariat for the AESP and all its satellite groups. This was wholly funded by Comte Alain de Villegas de Saint-Pierre-Jette, who more than likely secured this from the Sniffer planes scandal. It was equipped with its own printing press and a central file of the 10,000 AESP contacts. It only existed from April-September, 1978. The following year major setbacks began to occur throughout the “Cercle complex.”

Unstable & latter years

At the height of his power, Damman suddenly died from an apoplexy in early 1979, which caused a major power struggle within the AESP, leading ultimately to its demise. This internal conflict also befell the MAUE, from which Strihou resigned saying it had been “politically infiltrated.” Baron de Bonvoisin was new on the MAUE board of advisors at the time. Also in 1979, the Eurosysem Hospitalier – Saudi Arabia deal fell apart, which had involved certain prominent members of the Cercle des Nations, such as Vanden Boeynants, de Bonvoisin, Roger Boas, Blaton, De Pauw, and then-Prince Albert II of Belgium. The men were also implicated as customers of Fortunato “Tuna” Israel’s call girl network, which was also exposed in 1979 with the arrest of her successor Lydia Montaricourt. In 1979, the Pinon affair began to heat up. The BOB also began reporting on serious corruption within Vanden Boeynants and Leon Francois’ National Bureau for Drugs (NBD), a case then taken up by Herman Vernaillen and Guy Goffinon. In 1980, CEPIC member Leon Finne handed Vernaillen a list of men, including VdB, he said were involved in a destabilization plot in Belgium. By 1980, Francois was arrested, after which chaos befell the Belgian Judiciary. Nevertheless, each of these cases and the implications against the VdB gang would be largely covered.

However, VdB’s CEPIC was dealt a death blow in 1981, when a Surete report was leaked by De Morgen, revealing that the CEPIC and de Bonvoisin in particular were funding and fomenting a fascist underground, for example with the Nouvel Europe Magazine and Front de la Jeunesse. This caused the CEPIC to disband and put an end to de Bonvoisin’s public career. However, privately de Bonvoisin remained on the MAUE board and continued to attend meetings of Le Cercle Pinay. The PIO also discreetly transferred operations to the EIM, just as Paul Latinus formed the WNP. Around the time, FJ set fire the the offices of Jean-Claude Garot’s Pour magazine, which had exposed inner details of the FJ. Garot had also previously been warned by Vincet van den Bossche to not report on the Pinon affair, to which Garot refused.

In the year 1980-1981 a membership list of the Cercle des Nations would much later be found among Walter De Bock’s papers by author Klaartjie Schrijvers. It revealed many of the members and representatives of prominent businesses of industry.

It appears that in 1982, Van Wijck went bankrupt and curiously at the time his lawyer was Xavier Magnee. Van Wijck’s fall was linked to Baron de Bonvoisin and Van Wijck was close to BdB’s brother-in-law Count Herve d’Ursel. However, despite all the instability, the Cercle des Nations managed to survive.

In October 1982, Johan Coenraad Raemer organized an Urgent Appeal for Peace in Freedom hosted by Jacques Jonet at the Cercle des Nations. This event was attended by many prominent persons: “Bernard, Close, de Decker, du Monceau de Bergendal, Jean Gol, Simonet, Vankerkhoven, Tugwell, Benoist, Garner-Lancon, Amery, Chalfont, Goldsmith, Hastings, Ivens, Josten, Kimberly, Sporborg, Stewart-Smith, Tennant, a Vander Elst, Watkins, Barnett, Bukovsky, Decter, Edwards, Gayner and Pfaltzgraff, among many others.

Information about the Cercle from this point appears to be rather scarce. The information gathered thus far is the following. Any new information will likely be added in time.

Although the heyday of the Cercle des Nations was coming to a close, a number of interesting developments came about in the latter half of the 1980s. The involvement of the Cercle des Nations in the Brussels nightlife can be identified with Le Mirano and the Circus, as well as Parc Savoy, which was founded in 1985. These clubs involved members of Cercle des Nations, as well as the PSC’s defunct CEPIC and far-right of the PRL. Parc Savoy was built between 1985-1988 by the French firm Generale des Eaux and Ado Blaton’s Batiments et Ponts, which arranged by De Bonvoisin. Parc Savoy also involved a certain Philippe Cryns, who was caught up in a major scandal at Le Mirano, which came about after a death there in 1985.

The investigation into Le Mirano revealed cocaine/drug related offenses, but also a clandestine pedophile ring involved in blackmail. Curiously Cryns and his partner-in-crime Alexis Alewaeters were close to Jean-Michel Nihoul and Annie Bouty; and the sex-related offenses were suppressed, even though Cryns had made damning confessions. In the X-dossiers a certain witnesses claimed that Cryns and Nihoul met in the 1990s and organized Pink Ballets in the Faulx area.

In 1989, VDB apparently lived at an apartment on Franklin Roosevelt avenue, where Michel Vander Elst also apparently lived. This apparently was the street on which the Cercle des Nations was located. But in that year, VdB was kidnapped by Patrick Haemers and his gang. Suspiciously, Haemers would claim that he carried out the “kidnapping” by order of a mysterious “organization,” to which Vander Elst was his contact. This direction of inquiry inevitably leads to Freemasonry and Felix Przedborski, who was close to Andre Cools, leader of the “Nebula” mentioned in the ATLAS dossier.

In 1992, according to the hardly credible criminal Jean-Paul Raemaekers, he was present at a pedophile orgy on avenue Franklin Roosevelt 129-132, curiously down the road from the location of the Cercle des Nations, where Raemaekers claimed he met Rene Bats.

At this point, the Cercle des Nations seems to have faded away since 1985. However, after the Dutroux affair broke and during the latter stages of the coverup, the club was followed up by the broader and more liberal establishment/EU related Cercle de Lorraine, which became considered the most elite private club in Belgium. Members included Counts Leopold and Maurice Lippens, Etienne Davignon, Christian Boas, Albert Frere, Jean-Pierre de Launoit and a number of others prominent persons.

The Cercle de Lorraine existed until the Coronavirus pandemic, when in August 2020 it was announced that the club would be disbanded and its website shutdown.

Network analysis

While the brief timeline summary above helps gain an initial insight into the world of the Cercle des Nations, it would be very helpful for understanding to delve even deeper.

This author has identified up to 223+ reported members of the Cercle des Nations, through a few main sources. The first being Joel van der Reijden’s ISGP Studies, the second be David Teacher’s book ‘Rogue Agents’ and third very insightful book of Klaartjie Schrijvers, who obtained a copious amount of documents from Walter de Bock’s archives. The latter source provided the most names due to her access to a 1980-1981 membership list found in the archives.

The members of the Cercle covered nearly every major aspect of western civilization. The vast majority of them coming from big business and industry, banking and finance, consisting of up to 142 of the identified members, by far the vast majority. The second sector most represented and possibly with the most prominent individuals would by politicians and diplomats, with up to 21 identified. The third group would be nobility and their families, with over 16 names identified. The fourth group goes to two sectors, namely lawyers with a few doctors and journalists/media/magazines/publishers and teachers, both groups of 14 or more. The minority group being military and police, with at least 4 names. The nationalities of these individuals have not been analyzed by this author, but it can be certain that most of them came from Europe, the USA and other Western countries, as well as members from across the world, from Latin America, to Far Eastern Asia, Central Asia and Africa. To further complicate things, many members were involved in fields outside their own, mixing the above sectors together. The involvement of Cercle members in the Supranational parapolitical Network will be examined before the businessmen specifically are discussed.

In this author’s opinion, the most in-depth analysis of the Cercle was done by Schrijvers. ISGP however places the Cercle in an index providing context to the apparent Supranational network of organizations. In this view, which is substantially supported, the Cercle fell on the Conservative establishment side of this milieux, and more specifically within the “Vatican-Paneuropa Network,” with close ties to intelligence. Although the Cercle’s successor, the Cercle de Lorraine, was made more broad and placed within the Liberal establishment – European Union related – this is another example the Supranational network’s complexity. For it began with the Conservative est., but there were always ties to the Liberal est. and even contacts with the Zionist est. as well.

Cercle and the “Vatican-Paneuropa Network”

While there is much ground to cover, this author will attempt to stick with what is essential in relation to the Cercle des Nations. One step at a time, because the interconnections between these NGOs can become rather complex. What is fundamental here is that we are discussing the milieux of what ISGP has termed the “Vatican-Paneuropa Network” of the Conservative establishment and closely linked to intelligence.

Throughout the 1970s, some of the most prominent members of the Cercle des Nations were also members of the Académie Européene des Sciences Politique (AESP). Both the AESP and Cercle were founded anno 1969 and on June 23, 1970, the AESP and Cercle des Nations signed a mutual protocol of cooperation, illustrating the close relationship between the two. Thus meant that events of the AESP would be held at the Cercle des Nations. In total, at least 18 members of the Cercle were at one point also members of the AESP.

It is in this organization that we find many of the most prominent Cercle members, with whom we will become very familiar. The characters in question are as follows: Baron Benoît de Bonvoisin, Paul Vanden Boeynants, Jacques Jonet, Jean-Eugene Violet, Bernard de Marcken de Merken, Paul Vankerkhoven, Florimond Damman, Vincent van den Bosch, Jo Gerard, John Biggs-Davison, Jacques Van Offelen, Jack de Spirlet, Paul Rohr, Albert Dupuis, Aldo Mungo, Baron Adelin de Yperzele de Strihou, Florent Peeters and Paul V. Vandoros.

The AESP was founded in January 1969 by Florimond Damman and its symbol became the Seal of Charlemagne. Through the AESP, the tradition of the Grand Dîner Charlemagne, started in the 1960s by Damman, was continued. At least nine Cercle des Nations members were attendees of the Charlemagne dinners. All of them except two were confirmed by this author as members of the AESP, in the list above. The two outliers were Richard van Wijck, the instigator behind the Cercle des Nations, and Jean-Pierre Grafe, who was a Belgian PSC politician of the CEPIC. Along with Van Wijck and Grafe, the other Cercle members and Charlemagne dinner attendees included: Jonet, Violet, de Marcken de Merken, Vankerkhoven, Damman, V. van den Bosch and Spirlet.

Along this line of thought, there was also another short lived group called the Cercle Charlemagne. Founded in April 1978 and went defunct five months later in September, the organization was intended to be a parent body of the AESP and all of its splinter groups. Present at its inception by Archduke Otto von Habsburg were Baron de Bonvoisin, Florimond Damman, de Spirlet and Comte Alain de Villegas de Saint-Pierre-Jette, who provided the total funding for the group. Also involved were Aldo Mungo and Baron Paul Georges Marie Kronacker. The funding for this operation by de Villegas almost undoubtedly came entirely from the Sniffer Planes Swindle (to be discussed later), which apparently saved the AESP from collapse.

Back in 1923, the Freemason Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi founded the Paneuropa Union (PEU) with Otto con Habsburg and Richard adored the Charlemagne era of the Carolingians, successors of the Merovingians. One possible explanation for this veneration of Charlemagne can be found in the belief of von Habsburg that the history of Europe arose from the Charlemagne empire (Holy Roman Empire), explaining in a quote:

“The reign, in fact, is carried by the fixed design of unifying Germany that its monarch conceived the first, and by the Christianization of which he made his mission. This, to such an extent that the German left of the 1950s of this century baptized [Konrad] Adenauer and his political friends the Carolingians, so strong was their will to reunify this country and their religious affiliation poster.”

-SOURCE: Klaartjie de Schrijver, cited Pierre Pean and Otto von Habsburg, N􏰀aissance d’un continent, Grasset, 1975)

The historian professor and Cercle des Nations member Jo Gerard gave a lecture at the Cercle on October 9, 1974, reported by the Cercle’s magazine L’Eventail, 1/11/1974. Devoted to Belgian history, he discussed the Carolingian era, explaining how “Charlemagne had been the first, besides one of the greatest in the world, to have a clear vision of what a unified Europe should be: a Europe without borders and a Christian Europe.” And indeed this was a right wing Europe as explained in Schrijver’s book.

At least 4 Cercle members were involved directly in the PEU, which had a Belgian branch called initially Action pour l’Europe Nouvelle et l’Expansion Atlantique (AENA), then Conseil Belge pour l’Union Paneuropéenne (CBUP), and finally Mouvement d’Action pour l’Union Européenne (MAUE). The entire time these PEU Belgian branches were around, they were closely associated with the Charlemagne dinners. In total, at least 13 members of the Cercle des Nations were also members of the PEU Belgian branches, namely: de Bonvoisin, Jonet, de Marcken de Merken, Vankerkhoven, Damman, van den Bosch, Van Offelen, de Spirlet, Dupuis, Beyer de Rijcke, de Strihou and Robert A. Remy, editor of l’Eventail. As a reader might notice, we keep running into the same characters.

One important aspect that ought to be mentioned now, but will be discussed later, is that the PEU has been described as the real political force that pushed forward the agenda of a “European Union” or “United States of Europe”, as foreseen in the visions of Frederic Nietzsche, Giuseppe Mazzini, Victor Hugo and his friend, the synarchist-martinist, Alexandre Saint-Yves d’Alveydre.

Another very important organization of von Habsburg founded in 1952 was the Centre Européen de Documentation Internationale (CEDI). This was an international organization of Catholic conservatives centered in Francisco Franco’s Spain. At least 14 members of the Cercle were also members of the CEDI, including: de Bonvoisin, Jonet, Violet, de Kerchove, J.P. de Launoit, Vankerkhoven, Damman, van den Bosch, Van Zeeland, Biggs-Davison, de Spirlet, Mungo, Pirenne, and Count Thierry de Limburg Stirum. Vankerkhoven became head of CEDI Belgium and moved its headquarters to the Cercle des Nations.

Due to organizations as the CEDI, PEU and AESP, among others, suspicions were grown that the men behind these organizations were working in lockstep toward the aim of reviving the Holy Roman Empire. This goal is certainly not out of line with the above statements.

The one group that apparently puts this all together is the Catholic laity organization: Opus Dei, which began operations in Belgium by 1965. In 1986, not long after the last rampage of the Gang of Nijvel, two Opusian nobility approached the Wavrse BOB to inform them that at least 9 important members of Opus Dei together with several officers and generals of the gendarmerie and army were working to destabilize Belgium in order to transfer all power to King Baudouin. One of them was Vanden Boeynants. At least 13 individuals of the Cercle des Nations were members of, or if not than closely linked to, Opus Dei. These individuals were: de Bonvoisin, Vanden Boeynants, Dumont, Jonet, Violet, de Kerchove, de Marcken de Merken, Van Zeeland, Vankerkhoven, Damman, Mungo, Beyer de Rijcke and a certain Alain Contini.

As quoted earlier, among the archive of De Bock, Schrijver found a striking letter, from 1971-‘72, written by Mr. Contini (a Paris magazine editor) to Damman:

“I had great pleasure in getting to know you during the last Cercle des Nations symposium and thank you for the kindness you had in introducing me to the Spanish Ambassador as well as to Baron Adelin. Being in Paris and with our two newspapers, we can do useful work for the common cause. … I seek to increase contacts, while observing great discretion, eminent personalities who might be interested in our situation – although I may be deluding myself – given the economic and political objectives pursued, for example, by Opus Dei or the Cercle des Nations. We are all on the same side, if I may say so, since Maurrassians, Catholic fundamentalists, Europeans (but not just any Europe, of course!), Monarchists, etc.”

Opus Dei is an essential, crucial, connection as we shall see. In Belgium, Opus Dei was closely affiliated with the PSC’s fascist clandestine think tank, the Centre Politique des Independents et des Cadre Chretiens (CEPIC). Founded in 1972 by VdB, BdB and Gerard, this group had the aim of eliminating leftist elements within the PSC. At least 12 individuals from the Cercle des Nations could be found at the CEPIC, de Bonvoisin, Vanden Boeynants, Dumont, Roger Boas, Nicholas de Kerchove, Vankerkhoven, Gerard, Grafe, Beyer de Rijcke, Count Yves du Monceau de Berghendal, Jean Breydel and Viscount Christian de Jonghe d’Ardoye.

But the CEPIC was not just involved in a plan to control the PSC, for one, since this is a political party, they were aiming for control and power of the whole Belgian federal government, under the King of course. The CEPIC had to shut down in 1981, because Surete (Belgian State Security) made a report, which was leaked by the De Morgan magazine. In the report, it was revealed that the CEPIC was fomenting a fascist underground in Belgium and that de Bonvoisin even funded the private paramilitary organization Front de la Jeunesse.

It is here that we arrive at a particular militantism, if veneration of fascist dictators isn’t enough. The FJ was organized from fascist militant meetings of the NEM clubs, centered around Nouvel Europe Magazine, which was founded by de Bonvoisin and Vanden Boeynants, in 1971. Besides these two, at least three other Cercle des Nations members were involved with NEM or the NEM clubs, namely: Gerard, Biggs-Davison, Peeters and Edmond Nerinckx. The editor of NEM became Emile Lecerf. Already in 1971, NEM was making calls for a coup d’etat. That following year the CEPIC was established and former Prime Minister Vanden Boeynants became Minister of Defense, until 1979. At some point in 1972, it has been alleged that planning began to destabilize Belgium in order to bring in a stronger government that could more effectively counter “KGB subversion” of labour unions and left-wing political parties. Clearly identifiable with the CEPIC. Anno 1972 was also when the NEM clubs began to be formed.

The year 1973 was when Front de la Jeunesse (FJ) was formed, which came to be headed by Francis Dossogne, a paid advisor to de Bonvoisin. It was also the year of the aborted coup plot called “l’Ordre Blue”. That would reportedly be linked to the Sniffer Planes scandal and involved Vanden Boeynants, de Bonvoisin and Jean-Marie Bougerol (CEDI), as well as Count Arnoud de Briey who was a son-in-law of Van Zeeland.

In the following year of 1974, Minister of Defense Vanden Boeynants, de Bonvoisin and with support of Belgian Army Gen. Roman, the Public Information Office (PIO) was established. With de Bonvoisin’s insurance, the PIO came to be headed by Bougerol, who was a member of SDRA8. The public branch of the PIO was located in a building connected to the headquarters of the CEPIC at Belliard Street 39. Vanden Boeynants contacts to the PIO were de Bonvoisin and Nicolas de Kerchove. At some point the MAUE was located here, as well as de Bonvoisin’s PDG company, linked to the Eurosystem scandal and figures from the Pink Ballets.

The year of 1975 was an important one. At that point, the CEPIC became an official section within the PSC. The political front of the FJ, called the Parti des Forces Nouvelles (PFN) was founded by Lecerf and de Bonvoisin. In that same year, Lecerf organized a fascist meeting at the castle of de Bonvoisin, attended by representatives of the MSI from Italy, the French branch of Parti des Forces Nouvelles, the National Front from Britain and Fuerza Nueva from Spain and Francis Dossogne, head of Front de la Jeunesses was also present. According to Martial Lekeu, as early as 1975, Dossogne’s FJ set up Group G and Group M, clandestine organizations with the objective of a coup and infiltration of the the Gendarmerie and military. Already in 1976, Gendarme Roger Tratsaert reported that there was a silent right-wing coup in preparation in Belgium and that it centered around the Nouvel Europe Magazine and (ex-) officers of the military.

In 1977, the curious Comite Hongrie was formed by Ernest Tottosy (AESP, CEDI, P7), which was located at the CEPIC headquarters and involved the following persons: Florimond Damman, Emile Lecerf, Francis Dessart, Bernard Mercier, Jacques Borsu and Victor de Stankovich (P7). As can be seen, we are dealing with some individuals connected to the Italian P2 lodge’s Belgian branch, P7. Coincidentally, it has been suspected that the AESP may have been a sort of P1 lodge. The AESP also involved Vittorio Pons and Elia Giancarlo Valori, the former linked to P7 and the latter to P2. Also, now that Mercier has been mentioned, it should be pointed out that he was the director of l’Institut Europeen de Developpement, which was founded in the 1960s by de Bonvoisin, located in his castle, and also involved Vankerkhoven.

Here is a good place to segue back to the militarism mentioned above. Vankerkhoven was a member of the Ordre du Rouvre, founded in 1964 by Richard Van Wijck, the instigator of the Cercle des Nations. At least 6 Cercle members were involved in the select Order, including Van Wijck and Vankerhoven, alongside Jonet, V. van den Bosch, Remy and Count Giorgio Gherardi Dandolo. Jonet was a member of the much older Knights of Malta (SMOM), which may have included de Strihou.

With this trail of discourse, we also arrive at the Ligue International de la Liberte (LIL), the Belgian branch of the Word Anti-Communist League (WACL). At least six individuals from the Cercle were involved in the LIL, including: Vankerkhoven, Damman, Kronacker, Rohr, Peeters and de Strihou. Vankerkhoven, de Strihou and de Bonvoisin were also reportedly involved with WACL. This organization was essentially a major nexus point for fascist militants around the world, with numerous ties to intelligence.

It is at this point, that we should mentioned the reported umbrella organization of the so-called “Fascist International”, namely Le Cercle, Cercle Pinay, also called Sint Unum. Among the Cercle des Nations, at least 7 were members of Le Cercle, namely: de Bonvoisin, Jonet, Violet, de Kerchove, Vankerkhoven, Damman and Kun Park.

The last group that will be covered in this section is the Brussels-based Institut Européen pour la Paix et la Sécurité (IEPS), founded in 1982. This was an international group which aimed to counter Soviet subversion in the West through propaganda. According to David Teacher, the IEPS was actually a front group for Brian Crozier’s private intelligence organization: 6I. In terms of Belgian involvement from the Cercle des Nations, we find at least three key individuals: Jonet, de Kerchove and Vankerkhoven. Count Yves du Monceau de Bergendal was also reportedly involved in both groups.

Cercle ties to the Liberal establishment

It’s been said that nothing has gotten done without the approval of the Liberal establishment. In some way that could ring true. While Paul Vanden Boeynants was first Prime Minister of Belgium, 1966-1968, he was involved in resettling NATO from France to Belgium. However, he was also responsible for Belgium joining the European Economic Community (EEC), which later became the European Union (EU). Over a decade earlier, VdB was already involved in the Union of European Federalists (UEF), the leading group within the European Movement. The EM was founded by Jozef Retinger, Winston Churchill and Duncan-Sandys. While the the movement for European integration was pioneered by the PEU, which Churchill supported early on, Churchill founded the EM in opposition to it. It was largely funded by the ACUE.

While Le Cercle was mentioned earlier, its Liberal establishments opposite was the Bilderberger Group, founded by Retinger. Through the UEF, Vanden Boeynants came to meet Pierre de Bonvoisin, who was involved with the Societe Generale de Belgique and went on to attend early Bilderberg meetings. Pierre’s son Benoît de Bonvoisin became the righthand man of Vanden Boeynants. At one point, Benoît met longtime Bilderberg mainstay David Rockefeller, who certainly would have met Pierre at Bilderberg, at Le Cercle. As far as the Cercle des Nations goes, at least two members attended: Van Zeeland and de Kerchove. Van Zeeland was also involved in the Association Atlantique Belge, together with Cercle members de Spirlet, Pirenne and Baron Papeians de Morchoven. This demonstrates the alignment of the Cercle des Nations more so with Le Cercle, rather than Bilderberg. This would be in contrast with the Cercle de Lorraine.

Nonetheless, Vanden Boeynants and his Cercle des Nations entourage would have been involved with the construction of World Trade Centers (WTC) towers in Brussels, which today have been demolished and rebuilt. At the Cercle, Charly, Patrick and Alain De Pauw represented the WTC and Guy Mathot had also been involved with it. However, at Chateau Saint-Anne, in Brussels, there exists a group called the World Trade Center Association (WTCA), which has an impressive but rather sinister roster of historical speakers. At least four Cercle members were involved with the WTCA, Vanden Boeynants, Charly De Pauw, Ado Blaton and the curious lawyer Xavier Magnee. Other prominent speakers have included: Willy de Clercq (IEPS), Willy Claes (NATO), Guy Spitaels, Guy Coeme, Jean Gol, Melchior Wathelet, Etienne Davignon (Cercle de Lorraine), Count Maurice Lippens (Bilderberg, Cercle de Lorraine), Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb (CEPIC, European Movement), Karel Van Miert, Giscard d’Estiang, Raymond Barre and many others.

Another important organization in Belgium aligned with the Liberal establishment is the Royal Institute of International Relations (RIIR), located at Egmont, not to be confused with the British RIIA. This organization was essentially a Belgian version of the British RIIA, or the American CFR. The six Cercle members known to have been members were de Bonvoisin, de Kerchove, de Launoit, Andre Delforge, Andre Dubuisson, Rene Bats. Other names outside of the Cercle have included Beaurir, Rene Boel, Alfred Cahen, Robert Close, Etienne de la Vallee Poussin, Jose Desmarets, Gaston Eyskens, Jean Gol and many other prominent individuals.

Yet another club that at least three Cercle members belonged was the International Club located at Chateau Saint-Anne. These members were de Kerchove, de Morchoven and Baron A. Greindl, wo appears to have led the transition from the Cercle des Nations to the Cercle de Lorraine at Chataeu Saint Anne, in 1998.

The last major Liberal establishment, in this case “New Left” organization to be mentioned in this section is the Nature’s Trust: 1001 of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), it is also called the 1001 Club, founded by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. At least 3 Cercle members were also a part of the 1001 Club: Charly De Pauw, Edgar G. Parser and Michel Relecom. Relatives of Ado Blaton, Mrs. Pierre Blaton and Therese Blaton were members. Relecom, the owner of the Unibra brewery had business interests in Ziare of Mobutu Sese Seko, a 1001 Club member. Many Belgian interests in Ziare and the Congo were found at the Cercle des Nations. Baron Aldo Vastapane, whose family-owned Alva Group, which in 1997 bought a stake in Lonrho Continental, of which Relecom’s Unibra owned a 5% stake, which was after he pulled activities out of Ziare. Parser was a Belgian-US diamond dealer, who was good friends of CIA Director Allen Dulles and was a huge promoter of Moise Tshombe and Katanga, in opposition to President Kennedy. During the 1950s, he lobbied for Carlos Castillo Armas, a Guatemalan dictator and death squad leader who received CIA support. Parser lived in New York and tried in vain to become the US ambassador to Belgium. For help he went to his Democratic friend, Senator Thomas Dodd, another friend of Dulles. Another curious 1001 Club member was Count Leopold Lippens, who was a member of Cercle de Lorraine and together with his brother Maurice, extremely close to Vanden Boeynants, de Bonvoisin and Michel Vander Elst.

Cercle ties to the Zionist establishment

While Otto von Habsburg and Cercle members like Jean-Jacques Pirenne might have been opposed to some degree against Jews and Freemasonry, there certainly was at least one representative for each of these elements at the Cercle. The primary representative of the Zionist establishment at the Cercle des Nations was Felix Przedborski, who was said to have been at the head of a mysterious “Nebula,” with protection from an unknown Mossad Colonel. Cercle members linked to this Nebula through the ATLAS dossier included Vanden Boeynants, Roger Boas, Guy Mathot, Xavier Magnee, Pierre Salik and Henri Simonet. Philippe Cruysmans’ family was linked to the Caisse Privee Banque, which was used by VdB, linked to the Haemers gang and mentioned in the dossier. Dandolo was reportedly linked to a certain “Zwirn” who appeared as a FaceBook friend of Felix’s son Daniel.

Przedborski was said to be the grand master of a “jewish lodge” and Guy Mathot was a Grand Orient de France Freemason. Mathot and Przedborski were close to the assassination of Grand Orient Freemason Andre Cools, whose death was said to have been linked to the Augusta affair. Raymond and Michel Vander Elst were linked to the Nebula and the former was a member of the Grand Orient. Michel was the lawyer of Patrick Haemers and gang, who “kidnapped VdB”, and was his contact to a mysterious “organization.” Eric Haemers was said to have belonged to a certain “Lodge.” Willy de Clercq and Willy Claes also were linked to the Nebula and Freemasonry. This appears to display a certain relationship between the Freemasons and the Zionist establishment, which maintained relationships with the Vatican-Paneruopa Network and the Liberal establishment.

An additional note would be that Cercle member Leo Levy may have been Jewish. Also in the testimony of Anneke Lucas, she described an American perpetrator as being acquainted with Vanden Boeynants and having been in Jeffrey Epstein’s black book.

Business/industry and banking/finance ties

With everything that has been discussed up to this point, there is still even more to be found among the members of the Cercle des Nations. Aside from politicians, there were many businessmen and bankers involved. Many of whom had significant interests inside Belgium, but also abroad.

One important common interest close to the history of Belgium was in Congo/Zaire, where Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in a conspiracy to bring in Mobutu Sese Seko (1001). The already mentioned Michel Relecom (1001) of Unibra, Edgar G. Parser (1001), Baron de Bonvoisin (Close to 1001 member L. Lippens and family) and Jo Gerard were interested and active in that area of Africa. Cercle member Renaud Coppieters ‘t Wallant had interests in Congo/Zaire. Like Parser, Paul Rohr was a supporter of Tshombe of Katanga. Another Cercle member Chevalier (Knight) Bauchau was head of Banque Commercial Zairaise, about whom one man appears to have once observed:

“And I found a young energetic doctor, Bob Colebunders, a really good clinician from Antwerp who was willing to go there for us full time, for not much money. I applied for a grant from the European Union, and from the Belgian Medical Corporation, and my old fiend Jean-Francois Ruppol, in Kinshasa, introduced me to the head physician of the Banque Belgo Zairoise. For each of several years I went to see the elderly CEO of this bank, who was known as Le Chevalier (Knight) Bauchau, at the bank’s headquarters in Brussels, where everything was freshly polished ebony and you could actually smell the colonial era. It was part of the Societe Generale, where my father’s father worked, long ago; it was also, still, the main bank in Zaire and I became one of their charities. Every year Le Chevalier Bauchau handed me a personal check for 100,000 ot 150,000 Belgian francs- a personal check in my name -and he solemnly pledged the bank to support us logistically in Kinshasa.”

-(Source: 2012, Peter Piot, ‘No Time to Lose, page 142)

An interesting observation there, it was part of the SGdB. The bank was originally known as the Banque du Congo Belge, for time Banque Commercial Zairoise, but eventually came to be known as Banque Commerciale du Congo. The majority stockholder was a Belgian and his family, Georges Arthur Forrest, seconded by the Democratic Republic of Congo. Curiously, a 2002 UN panel report “said George Forrest had long-standing ties to the establishment in the DRC and described him as a member of the elite network of Congolese interests.” In 2019 to 2020, the Kenyan Equity Bank bought majority stake and began to merge with the BCC, becoming Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo.

Other interests in Africa could be found with Xavier de Brabandere, who represented Solibra, which was created in 1960 when Soliglace merged with Belgian brewers Artois. This group was apparently associated with Societe de Limonaderie et Brasserie d’Afrique, which was launched in 1958. Cercle member Jean van Pottelberghe de la Potterie was associated with Gecamines – Usines de Shituru, located in Likasi, Zaire.

While Roger Boas of ASCO used to be involved in manufacturing military vehicles, there were many other Cercle member specifically involved in the automobile industry. There was Joseph Leon Beherman, who actually would be involved in a scandal with Boas involving BDX armored vehicles and an intervention from Vanden Boeynants. However, with the Beherman Group, he became exclusive importer of vehicles. In 1938 they became a distributor for Chrysler. In 1979, they began to import Saab automobiles to Belgium and Luxembourg. Also in that year, Usines Ragheno merged with Groupe BAT (Bruxelloise d’Auto-Transport) to form Beherman Auto-Transport.

A certain Rene Capelle represented Mercedes-Benz Belgium at the Cercle. Capelle might possibly be associated with Capelle Transports, founded by a Rene Capelle in France, in 1951. It might also be interesting to point out, in light of above information, that William M. J. Russell was the chief of the import division of Mercedes-Benz in the Netherlands, was a member of the 1001 Club and first married Carla Brenninkmeijer (a family linked to Jesuits). We will be mentioning Mercedes later.

Also at the Cercle was Baron Hughes de Fierlant Dromer (Dormer?), apparently a car racer, and Raymond Franck, who both represented BMW Belgium. This is an interesting connection, because the notorious Diana Group of the Gendarmerie. BMW also has had a number of curious Supranational ties, some of which will be mentioned. Ian Robertson of BMW attended the Munich Security Conference (MSC), which the BMW Foundation has partnered and has Rheinmetall Group as a sponsor. Rheinmetall International was represented at the Cercle by Lodewijk Duyndam. The BMW Group was also a partner/sponsor of the German-British Forum, which also again included a Rheinmetall AG, Barclays Bank and also had BP and Deutsche bank representatives. At the U.K. India Business Council, BMW was represented as well as BNP Paribas and The Economist. BMW has been represented at the China Development Forum (CDF) along with the WTO, Shell, Unilever and Pfizer, which have al been represented at the Cercle. Similar connections with the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT), where BMW, Renault, Shell, BP, Unilever, BAT, Fiat, Solvay, Societe General de Belgique and AstraZeneca have been represented. On the board of the European Institute have been representatives of BMW, Bank of America and Societe Generale. A former manager of BMW Eberhard von Koerber was on the executive committee of the Club of Rome, which has included members as Louis Camu of Banque Bruxelles Lambert, Baron Daniel Janssen of Solvay and Gianni Agnelli of Fiat. Furthermore, BMW was a parter of One Young Life, together with BNP Paribas, BP and Unilever. A former BMW Munich Board member, Robert A. Lutz, gave a speech at Bohemian Grove. BMW chair Emil Georg von Strauss was a member of the Club von Berlin.

There were also Cercle members Hiromichi Hashimoto and Joseph Munster, who both represented Societes Datsun Belgium. Hashimoto was possibly related to Japanese endgineer Maujiro Hashimot from DAT car, which became related with Datsun. There was Jean Herdies of Renault Belgique Luxembourg. Also, Jean-Hubert Robert of GeneralCar. However, of these Renault appears to have most curious ties. Besides representation at the ERT, Renault CEO Raymond Levy was the founder of the Cercle de l’Industrie / France Industrie, a french lobbying group in Brussels where Solvay and Elf were represented. Renault has also been represented at the notorious World Economic Forum (WEF), alongside Shell, BP, Chevron, Barclays, Bank of America, Exxon, Dresdner Kleinwart Benson, GM, Paribas, Pfizer, Texaco, Unilever, Union Miniere, United Technologies and Warner-Lambert, again with most of these having been represented at the Cercle des Nations.

Aside from automobiles and oil, there were also representatives of the aviation industry. Except for Boas of ASCO, there was also at the Cercle Andre Granshof vander Meersch of Abelag Aviation. Additionally, Carlos Van Rafelghem and the earlier mentioned Aldo Vastapane represented Sabena, which might been linked to de Bonvoisin.

As seen from the connections drawn above, a number of oil/fuel companies were represented at the Cercle, but by whom? Well, there were Renaud Clerinx and Robert Philippe of ESSO Belgium, which appears to have always been or become a subsidiary of ExxonMobil (in-turn a subsidiary of Standard Oil) in 1950. Before that time, it was known as the German-American Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, founded in 1890. One of Esso’s chairmen was Emil Helfferich, who was a member of the Himmler/Keppler Circle and a signor of The Industrial Input Letter. Another member of the Keppler Circle was Emil Heinrich Meyer of ITT, possibly the same ITT represented by a certain William Cassidy at the Cercle des Nations.

Also, at the Cercle were Georges De Graeve and Jose De Kimpe of BP Belgium., which is part of British Petroleum already mentioned several times. BP has been active in Belgium since 1909 and today has offices in Brussels, Antwerp and a lubricant production facility in Ghent. However, BP has been represented at the notorious Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), along with Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, American Express, Chevron, Shell, IBM, Pfizer and even the infamous BlackRock. BP alone has nearly endless ties, some of which I will attempt to mention. Antony Burgmans of Unilever and BP was a member of the Dutch Centre in London, set up in 2013, and attended Bilderberg. At least one BP chair, Baron John Baring was a Rhodes Trust trustee, along with John Kerr of Shell and Lord Robert Fellowes of Barclays. Among the funders of the Atlantic Council (AC), have been BP, ExxonMobil, General Dynamics. BP was represented at the British-American Business Council (BABC), just as Bank of America, Barclays, Shell and Pfizer. At the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD), BP America was represented, as well as Texaco, Bank of America and Pfizer. At the Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Europe, we fine BP, Shell, Unilever, Solvay and IBM. BP again with Solvay, Unilever, but also Chevron, ExxonMobil, BAT, and United Technologies have been represented at the European Policy Centre (EPC). BP and BMW AG have been sponsors of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). At the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), represented companied have included BP, Texaco, Exxon, American Express and Pfizer. Founded in 1957, Institut Europeen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) has included companies as BP, Shell, Unilever and Solvay. Funders of TechnoServe, founded in 1966, have included BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, American Express and Pfizer. A BP chair has been a member of the Trilateral Commission (TC, which in 1980 included financiers from business as Exxon and IBM. Along with all these liberal establishment and New Left ties, we find BP represented at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), founded in 1992, alongside Shell, Texaco and Unilever.

Returning back to specific Cercle members in the oil industry, there was Baron? Ludo De Vleeschauwer van Brakel/Braekel of Philips Petroleum Chemicals, which was possibly linked to Chevron and Phillips 66, and has funded the Eurasia Foundation, as well as Exxon, Texaco and United Technologies. Cercle member Baron John J. Goossens represented Texaco Belgium. Texaco itself has a number of addition interesting connections. Texaco was represented at the President’s Commission on Executive Exchange, founded in 1981, along with GM, IBM, United Technologies and Bank of America. Texaco also came up in Jim Garrison’s compromised investigation into the JFK assassination.

At the Cercle there was also Jean Muuls of Chevron Oil Belgium, which was part of the prominent oil company. Again a business with many ties. It has been represented at the American Petroleum Institute (API), founded in 1919, along with ExxonMobil. Chevron was also represented at the National Petroleum Council (NPC), founded in 1946 and included Exxon chair and Ray L. Hunt of Hunt oil. It has been a donor to the African-American Institute, as well as Exxon and Barclays. Chevron has also been a donor to the International Rescue Committee, as well as American Express, Pfizer, Bank of American and Johnson & Johnson.

Another prominent oil company represented at the Cercle was Royal Dutch Shell, by Baron Guy de Wouters d’Oplinter. The Shell oil company has countless ties, but again some will be mentioned. What appears quite relevant here, is that Shell, which had a member involved in the Rijkens Group, was the initial financier of the International Documentation and Information Center (Interdoc). Shell and Unilever provided funding to the Foundation for the Investigation of Ecological Problems. Two members of Shell directed the Dutch branch of the American European Community Association (AECA), along with a director of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and included members as Exxon, Pfizer, Unilever, Belgacom, Delhaize Group, J&J and the National Bank of Belgium. Shell of course has also been represented at Bilderberg and the rest. Top Shell member John Loudon was a trustee of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Through Alfred Vas Nunes, Shell has been represented at the Institute for Political Studies in Vaduz. Two other representatives of energy companies at the Cercle were Armand Nandance of Godefroid Coal Trading & Shipping and Eric Yates of the European Petrochemical Association. To show another good example of how these companies interact, have a look at a special 1981 Beherman Group event for Mazda, where BP, Shell and Texaco advertisements can be seen:

Already mentioned have been a number of very prominent banks and financial firms, which indeed have been represented at the Cercle des Nations, possibly even more so than the auto and oil industry. The first group that ought to be mentioned would be Jacques de Bruyn, Jacques Moulaert, Count Jean-Pierre de Launoit and Michael Vivario all from the Compaignie Bruxelles-Lambert. Curiously, General Douglas MacArthur II, who became head of EIM and was involved with Unibra, was also involved in Compaignie Bruxelles-Lambert / Banque Bruxelles Lambert. Cercle member John Dils represented Banque Bruxelles Lambert, which was associated with the Rothschilds’ activity in Belgium. In 1975, a Baron Lambert from CBL attended Bilderberg, alongside many elites, such as Agnelli, Ball, Bennett, van der Beugel, Brzezinski, Buckley Jr, Louis Camu (Banque Bruxelles Lambert), Collado (Exxon), Dean (Sullivan & Cromwell), Deutsch, Halberstadt, Goudswaard (Unilver n.v.), Healey, Heinz II, Hubner (IBM), Janssen (UCB), McNamara, David Rockefeller, Roosa (Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.), Baron de Rothschild, Rumsfeld, Baron Snoy et d’Oppuers, Simonet, Stone (Aspen Institute), Terkelsen, Thatcher, von Amerongen, Johnson, Prince Bernhard and many others The CBL was part of the Bruxelles Lambert Group, which from 1995 to 2012, de Bruyn was honorary director with Count Jean-Jacques de Launoit, Aldo Vastapane and Baron Philippe Lambert. Count Jean-Pierre de Launoit (Vice-chair in 1995) was Honorary Managing Director, while Count Maurice Lippens (SGdB) was an independent director as chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Vice chairmen included chairmen included Paul Demarais and Paul Desmarais, Jr., both members of the Steering Committee. CEO and Managing Director was Baron Frere and the Chairman of the board of directors was Gerald Frere.

Another very important representative at the Cercle was Andre Dubuisson of the Societe Generale de Belgique (SGdB). This major bank was created after Belgium separated from the Netherlands and had a tremendous influence on the economy. Jacques Purnode and Count Eric de Villegas de Clercamp represented the Societe Generale de Banque at the Cercle. Also, the Cercle, Antoine d’Hondt represented Banque Credit General and appears to have married Francine Pollet, with whom they had Jean-Nicholas, who in-turn married an Isabel de Villegas de Clercamp. These organization may be discussed in-depth in another article, but suffice it to say these are very important connections.

A Guy Gillieaux of Barclays Banks International was a member of the Cercle. Most of the prominent Barclays links have been mentioned already above. Barclays was represented by Philippe Lagayette at the RIIR, where Dubuisson could have also been found and others. Barclays has been represented at the Trilateral Commission and Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). At the Cercle, a certain Baron Herry represented Bank of America, which has many ties already mentioned. It has also been represented at the CGI and at the United Negro College Fund, along with American Express, GM and ExxonMobil. Also at the Cercle was Derek Pearmund of American Express, which also has been mentioned above. One connection not mentioned would be the representation of American Express at Kissinger Associates, alongside Fiat, ITT, and AIG among others. There at the Cercle was also Yves de Monie of Banque Paribas. This is likely related to BNP Paribas and the above mentions of it. Paribas has been represented at the Power Corporation of Canada, which has also involved Baron Albert Frere and Andre Desmarais and 1001 Club member and Knight of Malta Gustavo Cisneros.

There were even more of these banks and financial institutions among the Cercle, about which less is known. Security National Bank, which was bought by Bank of America in ‘92, was represented by Joseph van Dierendonck. The banking and financial management group Ores International was represented by Christian Doat. Representing the Banque de Suez-Luxembourg was Philippe Donnay. A certain Patrick Haizet represented Banque Francaise du Commerce Exterieur, which was headed in the ‘70s by Olivier Giscard d’Estaing. A Jacques Puissaint Baeyens represented the Hannover Bank Belgium. The Knight Albert de Schaetzen van Brienen of Banque du Credit Commercial also represented Eternit. An Albert van der Scheuren-Deveze of the Bank Sparrenhof. There was also Andrei Vandoros of the Continental Bank of Chicago, in London, who might be related to Dr. Paul V. Vandoros.

The Cercle certainly had members of banks coming from the Far East as well. The Brussels branch of The Taiko Kobe Bank Ltd. was represented by Kazuya Nakamura. For The Bank of Tokyo, in Brussels, there was Masayoshi Tanaka. The Nippon European Bank was represented by Ko Tokuda. A certain Adelin Remy represented the Belgian Finance Company, in Hongkong.

Cercle member Robert A. Ziegler represented Ziegler and was on the Swiss Chamber of Commerce as chair of Belgium and Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. There were Jacques Breckpot and Thierry de Montjoye of Jean Crab & sons, an asset management and security firm. A Xavier Breckpot and is a manager in the firm today, as well as a Gael Breckpot. There is also a Veroniqe de Montjoye.

There are still more important organization that this author finds curious. At least three men, Jacques Delvaulx, Jean Ickx and Roger van Outeghem, represented the investment bank Kleinwort Benson. In the past, the firm helpde finance Francisco Franco’s coup d’etat in Spain, in 1937. Originally founded in 1786 as Kleinworts, in 1961 Kleinworts merged with Robert Benson, Lonsdale and Co. It acquired the bullion dealer Sharps Pixley, in 1966, through which they gained direct contact to N M Rothschild & Sons. In 1995, Dresdner Kleinwort was formed after the acquisition of Dresdner Bank. Both have been represented at the World Economic Forum (WEF), as well as the earlier mentioned AECA. By 2016, the Societe Generale S.A. took over and formed Kleinwort Hambros. Interestingly, as revealed by ISGP, four members of the Kleinwort family were 1001 Club members in 1978 and three of them in 2008.

Along with Count Goblet d’Alviella, the previously mentioned Baron Paul Kronacker represented Societe d’Enterprises Agricoles SEA at the Cercle. Kronacker, whose father married Eva Boel and who was friends with Rene Boel, also represented Raffiniere Tirlemontoise. A Fernand Ullens de Schooten represented Holding Teguise, in Groot-Hertogdom Luxembourg. There was also Robert Georges Havaux of “Distrigaz”, which sounds similar to Distrigas that reportedly owns foundations in Belgium. At the Cercle was also Pierre Huylebroeck, who represented “Establissement Hoover.” An Alain Grisar represented a certain “Sopex.” Interestingly, Andre Delfroge represented the consprtium Sybetra, which was owned by the “Societe Generale.”

There at the Cercle were also representatives of at least a couple construction companies. There was Peter Cabuy of Batiments et Ponts (linked to Blaton and de Bonvoisin etc.) and Ado Blaton himself representing a “Socorin.” At the Cercle were representatives of prominent apparent mining companies: Pierre de Merre of the prominent Union Miniere, which was headed by de Bonvoisin’s father Pierre in the Congo. The Cercle de Lorraine member and Lippens brothers friend Davignon was president of Union Miniere Belgium. Both have attended Bilderberg, especially the latter, both were involved with the Societe Generale de Belgique.

Furthermore, Count Yves du Parc Locmaria represented the Societe Generale eds Minerais. There were also diamond companies. At Cercle were Baudouin Lacroix and Roger Van Looy of Diamond Investors & Manufacturers. Additionally, Cercle member Marcel Margulies of Graduated Diamond Expert GIA was also there.

Moving along, there were also electrical and other technical companies represented at the Cercle. The company Electrabel/Electrobel had three representatives: Paul Fantoli, Alfred Hubert and Jean-Francois Pettens. A subsidiary of Electrobel, called Logabax was represented by an Andre Laurent. Additionally, Pierre Ugeux represented the Union Société Gazières de Belgique and the Union Exploitations Electriques en Belgique. Ugeux was a friend of J.-J. Pirenne.

A number of manufacturing companies were represented, besides other already mentioned. There was Peter Boon of the vacuum manufacturer Hoover Worldwide Corporation. Another interesting sounding company was F-16 Europe General Dynamics represented by Jerry Jones. Possibly a relative was Raymond Jones, who represented the General Dynamics International Corporation.

The tech industry also had at least a few representatives at the Cercle. There were Jean-Marie Pirnay and Urbain Vanden Bossche of Nixford Computers. Also at the Cercle were Gregory Breitenbeck and Eugene Vincent McAuliffe for United Technologies, Europe. It is not exactly clear but this later group appears to have later attempted to acquire the curious Diebold.

One rather peculiar technological group represented at the Cercle was IBM by Baron Juan ‘t Kint de Roobenbeke and Paul Roch. IBM has a ton of curious connections. For example, Thomas “Pop” Watson was a Hitler supporting member of the Pilgrims Society and advocated for a private intelligence agency that would take over all covert actions from of the OSS. IBM has been represented at the following NGOs: Rockefeller Foundation; CFR, along with earlier mentioned Barclays, BNP Paribas, American Express, Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, Pfizer and J&J, ECAT; a donor at the Wilson Center, with Exxon, Bank of America; at Securing America’s Future Energy, with Unilever; the Climate Leadership Council, with BP, Exxon, Shell and J&J; as well as many other connection, most of the ties already mentioned in above paragraphs.

On a last note about the tech industry, another area represented at the Cercle was Nuclear science. There was Georges Vanvrekom of the Association des Ingénieurs en Sciences Nucléaires Appliquées.

The cosmetics industry was also represented. For example, with Roger Verstraeten of Unilever Belgium. Unilever and its connections to other big businesses represented at the Cercle have mostly already been mentioned. The Unilever connection in important, because the instigator behind the formation of the Cercle des Nations was Richard van Wijck, who was related to J.R. Jurgen, making him an heir to a Unilever shareholder. Also at the Cercle was Roger Eyben, representing Estee Lauder.

The pharmaceutical industry had a few representatives at the Cercle. There was Francois Vandenbroeck of Warner-Lambert Belgium, which has been represented at the WEF. Very interesting was the presence of a certain Maurice Roche, who represented Pfizer Europe. The Pfizer corporation is notorious today from its Viagra erectile dysfunction pill, but is more widely know now for its Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer has numerous connections, many of its ties already mentioned above. Also at the Cercle was John Boyd of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), which appears linked to the later creation of AstraZeneca after a demerger. AstraZeneca also now has a Covid vaccine. In October 1965, the British ICI had headquarters in Brussels to coordinate and develop operations in Western Europe. Robert Malpas was involved in the ICI, as well as BP.

The last area of business represented at the Cercle to be mentioned is film. Cercle member and CEPIC member Viscount Christian de Jonghe d’Ardoye represented Videosope. There was Andre Maquestiau of Compagnie Cinematographique Belge and Drukkerij Van Buggenhoudt. A certain Claude Sora represented Cinéma Publicitaire Belge. We will be returning to the CPB in the next section.

Cercle’s numerous ties to scandals

Van Wijck’s bankruptcy & the BDX deal

An incredible amount of prominent businesses were represented at the Cercle des Nations, spanning a wide array of industries, including especially banking and finance. There were prominent politicians and diplomats from around the world, along with members of nobility. Many of them, if not all of them, with interests in Belgium. However, there is still an area that needs to be summarized to complete this info compendium: scandals.

While the many scandals that could be mentioned in relation to the linked businesses, this will be left out for the most part. Instead, the prominent members, mostly politicians and nobility, will be discussed.

The Cercle des Nations itself stirred a lot of criticism, in particular for their support of fascist dictatorships around the world. They hosted a commemoration of the fascist Greek colonels who seized the reigns of government to form a junta. In their magazine L’Eventail, and undoubtedly at their lectures, they voiced support for Francisco Franco of Spain and Augusto Pinochet of Chile, or Antonio Salazar of Portugal. Contacts would have been maintained with figures likely of the far-right in other countries, from Japan, to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, South Africa and Argentina.

Adding to the above already controversial, what do we make of a statement as the following then, made by Herwig Lerouge: “Justice nevertheless knew that there was a criminal gang within Cercle des Nations which was active in haute finance, politics and the Brussels night life.” This will be explored a bit further.

Klaartjie Schrijver made an interesting observation about the Cercle and the fraudulent bankruptcy of its founder Richard van Wijck:

“If we look at the fraudulent bankruptcy of Richard Van Wijck, one constant stands out: in addition to Richard Van Wijck, of course, Gherardi Dandolo, Jack de Spirlet, Paul Vankerkhoven, Count Yves d’Ursel, Bernard de Marcken de Merken, Benoit de Bonvoisin, Jo Gérard , Paul Vanden Boeynants, Serge de Ceuninck, Prince Rodolphe Croÿ-Roeulx, Theo Van Helvoort and Xavier Magnée are all members of the Cercle des Nations. Let us also point out that they also represented one or more companies or institutions in the Cercle des Nations, and not just those involved in Van Wijck’s bankruptcy. Jack de Spirlet represented the Banque Belge pour l’Industrie, among others. Benoit de Bonvoisin, on the other hand, was present at the Cercle des Nations in the capacity of chairman of the Committee on European Affairs and External Trade of CEPIC. By the way, he was flanked by knight Jean Breydel, at that time secretary-general of the CEPIC. Baron Serge de Ceuninck was deputy manager of the Société Générale Interfinancière. Vanden Boeynants was manager of various meat companies, Theo Van Helvoort manager of Boomse Metaalwerken and nv Broko (together with the counts Charles and François de Broqueville and baron de Ceuninck). François de Broqueville was also a member of the Cercle des Nations.”

Apparently in the late 1970s, the fraudulent bankruptcy of Van Wijck was intimately connected with the Cercle, because with the fall of Van Wijck came the the bankruptcy of the Cercle Cultural de la Cambre (CCC), formed with Vankerkhoven to fund the Cercle des Nations. However, Van Wijck had a serious interest in the financial sector.

In was in 1975 that Van Wijck met the Italian Count Giorgio Gherardi Dandolo, through Vankerkhoven. About Dandolo, who became a Cercle member, Shrijvers writes: “This Italian count, ennobled by the last king of Italy, Umberto II (although he is nowhere to be found in noble registers), had many connections in the international jet set of Italy, Switzerland and Monaco. His father Sandro Gherardi was a recognized EC official.”

Van Wijck and Dandolo together took control of the Credito Commerciale (CC) bank in Lugano, a town in southern Switzerland located right next to the northern Italian border. The bank launched a serious of “fiscally interesting and risky operations.” In 1976, the peculiar holdings company Credithold was set up in Luxembourg, a tiny country located in between northern Switzerland and southern Belgium, and it became an important hinge for later Belgian financial operations. One of the managers of both the bank and the holdings company was Cercle member Theo Van Helvoort.

One of the operations undertaken by Credithold was the acquisition of a certain stake in North Europe International, a Brussels-based insurance company. The company later went bankrupt, with losses into the tens of millions of francs. With the CC behind it, in April 1976, Credithold founded the Société Européenne de Gestion Industrièlle (SEGI), of which the manager became Helvoort. SEGI, together with political friends as Baron Benoît de Bonvoisin and Baron Bernard de Marcken de Merken. acquired more than 7% of the capital in Boomse Metaalwerken. However, it appeared that there would a scam involved by a certain Godfrin and Zarotti, who caused millions in more losses for the Van Wijck group. De Marcken de Merken would have to sell him home in Louisalaan, Brussels, where Dandolo later ran a casino for the “Europa jet set.”

In 1976, Van Wijck and Dandolo started NV Sogadex, which was a business involved in international trade of raw materials. Also in ‘76, Van Wijck transferred his domain in Essen to a separate group, NV Wildven, of which Vankerkhoven apparently became administrator. However, “various financial transactions ensured that 6 years later he saw his domain worth 126 million francs and his entire private assets go bankrupt,” by the early 1980s.

But, somewhere around this time in the ‘70s, with Jo Gerard, the Van Wijck group founded NV Société Générale Interfinancière (SGI), which was an import/export between Belgium and Tunisia. Its deputy administrator became Baron Serge Ceuninck, a Cercle member. At some point, Paul Vanden Boeynants appointed Van Wijck, together with Benoit de Bonvoisin, as manager of the Army Museum in Brussels, which was led by Gérard.

However, it was in 1977 that the Van Wijck-Dandolo group finally achieved their aim. Through Credithold, the two re-established SA Credit Commercial et Financier (CCF). Its chairman was Van Wijck, with the co-chairman as Dandolo. The deputy administrator became De Ceuninck and the two administrators were Alain Laets and Prince Rodolphe de Cröy-Roeulx. The CCF provided mortgage loans to EC officials and also attracted “cash deposits from some 50 wealthy Belgians, but that were fraudulently passed on to the Luxembourg capital market. Thus,” writes Schrijvers, “the CCF soon functioned as a clandestine, occult banking institution. But the Dandolo-Van Wijck duo escaped government control for a long time.”

While most of these men were able to slip under the radar, one important figure ended up in trouble before Van Wijck. That man was Count Hervé d’Ursel, the brother-in-law of Baron de Bonvoisin. For many years, d’Ursel was a close business associate of Van Wijck, who together managed the holdings company BUFA. In December 1977, through Kredietbank Luxembourg “d’Ursel sold control of BUFA to the company Continental Foods from Puurs and thereby unlawfully acquired 181 million francs.” Although the two remained as managers of BUFA, in November 1980, d’Ursel was arrested for that fraud operation and spent a month in pre-trial detention in Vorst prison. Two years later, in 1982, Richard Van Wijck would do the same.

In between this time, in 1979, the Van Wijck-Dandolo group sold their Lugano bank, Credito Commerciale, to Credit Commercial de France, in Geneva. In August of that year, they set of a Brussels computer company, NV Technology Management Systems, which went bankrupt by 1982. The crash of the Van Wijck-Dandolo group seemed inevitable at this point, but the managed to continue their schemes. In April 1982, with Dandolo’s wife Mrs. Laets and “father Gherardo Dandolo,” through NV Finmob, they acquired half stake in its subsidiary, the Antwerp private bank Beeckmans, Gheysens, Vanderlinden & Co. The two managers were Guy Mercier and Philippe Vanderlinden, who had also been managers of BUFA for many years. In July ‘82, Cercle member Jack de Spirlet came in as director of the Antwerp bank. It was observed that in “practice, the Spirlet had its Brussels office at the headquarters of the Crédit Commercial et Financier [CCF]: a real bank therefore settled in the clandestine bank.” At that point, things really began to fall apart, and the Banking Commission was now on their trail. They made a a secret agreement with the Antwerp private bank to gradually and discreetly reduce its close ties with the CCF and Van Wijck. Dandolo saw what was happening and fled to Monaco.

As for Van Wijck, he eventually went bankrupt and dragged nearly 20 companies down along with him. The total losses were estimated to be over 1 billion Belgian francs. Van Wijck himself lost all his capital and was sentenced to 20 months with a postponement. He was in jail for one month. His lawyer at the time was Xavier Magnee, a Cercle member. Here Mr. Magnee will serve as an important hinge point for this section of the article.

While Paul Vanden Boeynants was Minister of Defense in the late 1970s, he insured that ASCO of Roger Boas would be the subcontractor to Beherman-Demoen company of Joseph Leon Beherman, who were involved in a deal providing BDX armored vehicles for the gendarmerie and air force. In a move to win this major contract, with ASCO, Boas founded NV Belgian Mechanical Fabrication (BMF), which he administrated along with Xavier Magnee. At one point, Beherman even complained about the way things were going, but VdB managed to about a reconciliation, and as Shrijver states, “masterfully managed to throw sand in the eyes of the High Supervisory Committee. All this resulted in the Wilfried Martens II government approving the armor contract with BMF. Yet, as early as May of 1979 or 1980 the vehicles showed defects, and Beherman blamed his subcontractor. By 1981, the Air Force had to remove the BDXs from service due to major defects. This is a major swindle, which recalls the modus operandi of the Sniffer Planes scandal.

Child abuse networks

As much as has been discussed up to this point, there is evidence of even more dark criminal underworld activity going on with certain prominent members of the Cercle des Nations and even its successor the Cercle de Lorraine. Thus far, this area has only been briefly mentioned, that is pedophile blackmail, child abuse and even murder.

The man with the most accusations of child abuse against him, who was a notorious member of the Cercle des Nations, was Paul Vanden Boeynants. He once made a remark about attending the Cercle to hear a speech from Jacques Chirac: “The Cercle des Nations? I went there for dinner, if I’m not mistaken. Oh yes, and I once went to listen to a speech by Jacques Chirac.”

Even though VdB clearly tried to minimize his involvement with the Cercle des Nations, he certainly had joined its honorary committee. Cercle manager Serge de Ceuninck was reportedly on trial for fraud and claimed, as well as others, that “VDB invaded every once in awhile. Also, it is interesting that Jacques Chirac of France reportedly gave a speech at the CEPIC, in which multiple Cercle members were involved as mentioned above.

Chirac was the Prime Minister and later President of France, as well as Mayor of Paris. He was educated at the ENA, Harvard and Sciences Po, the latter of which could also be found Dominique Baudis, around whom in 2003 a scandal dealing with a french child abuse ring broke out, but he was never prosecuted. This was particularly due to Baudis’ alleged relationship with Patrice Alegre. Curiously, beforehand Chirac provided Baudis with a government post, for which Baudis left his leadership role at Le Figaro. Other staffers of Chirac have reportedly worked for Le Figaro, of which a 40% stake was held by the Carlyle Group, from 1999-2002, notorious in relation to 9/11. Various employees of Le Firgaro owner Robert Hersant reportedly liaised for Le Cercle and CAUSA of the Korean Moonie cult. In France, Chirac had attempted to to deny the existence of Operation Gladio, and Baudis’ father Pierre was a political ally or associate of Antoine Pinay, figurehead founder of Le Cercle. Chirac was said to have been friends with Georges Albertini, who was reportedly a member of 6I, Le Cercle and the curious Information Council of the Americas (INCA), linked to JFK assassination suspects and child abuse. One may recall that rumors were stirred that one of the Gang of Nijvel attacks wore a mask that resembled an older man, allegedly it was Chirac’s face.

In closing about Chirac, in 1987, he gave a speech at the prominent Liberal establishment club in the USA, The Economic Club, founded in 1907. Many prominent members and especially historical speakers even to today. Members as Henry Kissinger, Peter Peterson, Thomas Watson of IBM, George W. Bush, Alan Greenspan, George Schultz and Paul Volcker. Speeches have been given by Gianni Agnelli, Dean Acheson, James Baker, Michael Bloomberg, Zbigniew Brzezinski, George H. W. Bush, Winston Churchill, Hillary Clinton, William Casey, William Colby, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani, Barry Goldwater, Donald Trump, David Rockefeller, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Larry Fink and many others. Furthermore, in 1999 and 2000, Chirac gave a speech at the Fortune-Time Global Forum, where prominent persons have participated, including George H. W. Bush, Shimon Peres, Thatcher, Peterson, Rupert Murdoch, Giuliani (‘99), Li Ka-shing (‘99), Kissinger (‘99), Bill Clinton, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Colin Powell, Larry Summers, Jack Ma, Desmond Tutu, Tony Blair, Pope Francis, Henry Kravis, Justin Trudeau, Arianna Huffington, Lynn and Evelyn de Rothschild, among many others.

Moving on, as the previous few paragraphs have digressed into other areas, there is much more in this line of inquiry for the Cercle des Nations and Paul Vanden Boeynants. Not only has VdB been accused of child abuse by the most victim-witnesses, he has also been pointed out more than once as a leading figure in the network. One of his key areas of operation was at the CEPIC, which he founded and has already been mentioned. A few of the prominent members have been accused of child abuse as well and a few who were murdered by the Gang of Nijvel were said to be involved in the Pink Ballets.

Members of both the Cercle and CEPIC, already mentioned, who have been accused of involvement in the child abuse network included: Paul Vanden Boeynants, Baron Benoît de Bonvoisin, Jean-Paul Dumont, Roger Boas and Jean-Pierre Grafe, making the number at least 5. The CEPIC, exposed by Surete for having fomented a fascist underground, through de Bonvoisin, funded the Front de la Jeunesse, which in 1982 burned down the headquarters of Pour magazine. This occurred almost certainly because the editor was planning to publish on the Pinon affair, an action which he had been warned of just before. This major scandal around the Pinon affair prominently involved Vanden Boeynants, but his role as well as Guy Mathot’s were later dismissed. Others associated with the scandal included Ado Blaton, Aldo Vastapane, and Charly De Pauw. The Pink Ballets affairs have been summarized in a previous article, but some of the relevant details will be mentioned.

During Pinon and Garot’s inquiry into the claims of Christine Doret (which she later refuted completely), she had mentioned a certain “Tuna,” similar to a “Tunia” mentioned in a news report at the time. Research done much later indicated that this Tuna was in-fact Fortunato Habib Israël, the mistress and employee of Roger Boas of ASCO. She was the one who ran call-girl services for Eurosystem during their deal in Saudi Arabia. The successor of Fortunato was one of her prostitutes, Lydia Montaricourt, who became embroiled in a major scandal, which dealt also with blackmail and was intimately associated with Vanden Boeynants and de Bonvoisin. It was Jean Depretre of Wallonia who played a crucial role in the apparent coverup of this major scandals. Depretre also was a major stifler of the Gang of Nijvel investigation. At least four victims of the Gang were said to have been former members of the CEPIC and also involved in the “Pink Ballets.” These persons were Leon Finne, Jacques Van Camp and the couple Jacques Fourez and Emile Dewit.

Fourez and Dewit were said to have been acquainted with Van Camp, owner of the Les Trois Canards cafe. The place had interesting clientele, including Vanden Boeynants and Dumont. It was reported that Van Camp made friends with Vastapane and gendarme Lieutenant General Fernand Beaurir. These individuals, except for Dumont who was named in the X-dossiers alongside everyone else, were implicated in the Pinon/Pink Ballets affairs.

According to the X-dossiers, X2 testified that her pimp, Olivier Castiaux knew Van Camp. This is very curious, because she also testified that Castiaux took her to the Brussels nightclub Le Mirano somewhere in the mid-1980s, where cocaine-fueled orgies involving child abuse took place. X2 specifically identified de Bonvoisin as having been present at these events, along with Paul Bourlee and certain Levi and Belgian royals Princes Philippe and Laurent, and possible Prince Alexandre. Besides the royals, de Bonvoisin and the others were also present at a Netherlands castle where sadistic child abuse took place, according to X2, where Dumont was also present.

As for Le Mirano, interestingly, the murdered Juan Mendez identified Le Mirano as key to solving the Gang of Nijvel case. In support of such a claim, Le Mirano was said to have been attended by Madani Bouhouche, Robert Beyer and Patrick Haemers. X2 claimed Bouhouche was present at The Dolo, where Achiel Haemers and Nihoul among many others were also present; and where accusations of child abuse were rife. At Le Mirano, a major scandal broke out in the mid-1980s, when someone died from a drug overdose inside the club, sparking a police investigation. This led to the discovery of evidence for a clandestine paedophile blackmail operation, which ended up being covered up. The head figure was Philippe Cryns, who was a Cercle member involved with Parc Savoy, which was set up by other prominent Cercle members. Cryns’ partner was Alexis Alewaeters, who through acquaintance with Annie Bouty and Michel Nihoul got the lawyer Didier de Quevy, who was close to Dumont and would later become the lawyer of Marc Dutroux in the late 1980s.

In the testimony of X1, Bouhouche was a violent driver of BMWs resembling those of the Diane Group. He would transport her to the ASCO factory of Roger Boas, where extreme child abuse and filming took place. X1 named the following abusers: de Bonvoisin (Cercle), Vanden Boeynants (Cercle), a “Roger” (Boas, Cercle), Dumont (Cercle), Melchior Wathelet, Michel Vander Elst, Nihoul, Bouty, and Tony Van Den Bogaert. The testimony of X1 was horrific and has been summarized in previous articles. But another person she named as responsible for the filming was Werner Donners, who along with his son Serge was close to Vanden Boeynants and was the boss of Tony V. at Cinema Publiciteit Belgie (CPB), wich could very well be the Cinema Publicitaire Belge of Cercle member Claude Sora.

Tony V., Nihoul, Bouty, and Vander Elst were, according to X1, the main perpetrators of a number of murders of young girls in the 1980s. One of them one Christine Van Hees, at whose murder Dutroux and his accomplice Bernard Weinstein were said by X1 to have been present. Dumont was even close to the case as well as the coverup-er Jean-Claude Van Espen, who was close to the Loubna Benaissa case, accused of pedophilia and alleged to have protected a group of elites around the Societe Generale de Belgique, which we know was represented at the Cercle. According to X1, Van Hees was initiated into the network at a home owned by Count Herve d’Ursel (Cercle member; de Bonvoisin brother-in-law), in the presence of Nihoul, Bouty, Tony, de Bonvoisin and others. X1 testified that Tony took her to the Solvay-owned domain of Chateau des Amerois, where de Bonvoisin and others murdered children in sordid hunting games. Vanden Boeynants was a key instigator of the child hunts, according to X1. Solvay has been linked to the Cercle.

An anonymous tip to the police reported that the Dolo was the key to solving the Van Hees murder case. Vander Elst and VDB were said to have attended the Dolo and in the 1990s, it was claimed that Dutroux and his wife Michelle Martin were spotted twice exiting the club. While Dutroux’s lawyers then became men as Julien Pierre, by the 2004 trial his lawyer became Xavier Magnee, who we know was a Cercle member, close to Boas and the rest. Furthermore, it was the previously mentioned Melchior Wathelet (ASCO, according to X1), who approved the release of Dutroux from prison in 1992.

Men as Counts Leopold and Maurice Lippens and Etienne Davignon have been accused of child abuse and were members of the Cercle de Lorraine. Persons accused by Count Yann de Meeus d’Argenteuil included Chevalier Pierre Bauchau, Baron Lambert and Count Jean-Pierre de Launoit, as well as Baron Daniel Janssen and Yves Boel.

On the honorary committee of the Cercle de Lorraine was Baron Daniel Cardon de Lichtbuer, who had a number of interesting connections. He was a patron of the AECA, alongside Davignon, Karel Van Miert, Janssen, Willy de Clercq, Charles-Ferninand Nothomb (X3), and Therese Blaton. Curiously, de Lichtbuer was on the support committee of the Belgian Kids Fund for Pediatric Research, alongside Davignon, Count Maurice Lippens, de Launoit. Its patron was Princess Astrid and a Baron Herve van Ypersele de Strihou was a director, as well Prince Amaury de Merode. While more ties to some of these same individuals as Davignon, Janssen, de Launoit and others could be made, it is very suspicious that someone with connections like this would become chair of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), as in the case of de Lichtbuer, who also headed Child Focus, formed in the wake of the Dutroux affair.

Another Cercle member accused of pedophilia was Jean-Pierre Grafe, who also attended the Charlemagne dinners. Testimony of Jean-Michel Rulens accused Grafe and Elio Di Rupo, as well as Oliver Trusgnach, who was manipulated by Dolo attending police commissioner Georges Marnette. In the X-dossiers, the anonymous witness T1 accused Grafe and it has also been alleged that Nihoul himself made statement about Grafe being a pedophile. Furthermore, Grafe’s brother Jacques, a lawyer and convicted pedophile, was recognized by X1.

Having mentioned coverup-er Marnette, it is important to know that he also manipulated Jean-Paul Raemaekers, who made certain testimony about pedophile networks, but was used in its coverup. Raem. was recognized by X1 and X4, who may have been on a picture in his possession. X1 also recognized Rene Bats, whom Raemaekers claimed Dumont introduced him and that he was a pedophile. Claimed Bats knew Renaud Coppieters ‘t Wallant, who knew Dumont and was a homosexual pedophile. PSC member Wallant also happened to be a member of Humanist groups as the Rotary Club and Lion’s Club. X2’s pimp Castiaux was a member of the Rotary Club. Another member of the Rotary was General Robert Bernaert, a friend of Beaurir in the Gendarmerie who played an important coverup role.

Conclusion

The Cercle des Nations club of Belgium was truly a nexus point for prominent individuals and their networking. The paths of that networked were attempted to be followed by this author, but only a preliminary investigation has evidently resulted. However, strong evidence of the Cercle’s alignment with the “Vatican-Paneuropa Network” has been presented, as well as its follow up’s alignment with the Liberal establishment around the EU.

There is plenty of work to be done on this article, particularly on the Notes, which this author to a detriment neglected. Nonetheless, the article has shed a considerable amount of light on the network of the Cercle des Nations. This was primarily done through finding connections and similarities.

Appendix A: Cercle des Nations membership list

ISGP Studies, Brabant/Bende forums

• Baron Benoit de Bonvoisin
• Emmanuel de Bonvoisin
• Paul Vanden Boeynants
• Jean-Paul Dumont
• Aldo and Philippe Vastapane
• Ado Blaton
• Jacques Jonet
• Serge Kubla
• Charly De Pauw
• Roger Boas
• Jean-Eugene Violet
• Felix Przedborski
• Pierre Salik
• Xavier Magnee
• Guy Mathot
• Prince Francois de Merode
• Philippe Cryns
• Nicholas de Kerchove d’Ousselghem
• Philippe de Kerchove
• Jean and Baron Bernard de Marcken de Merken
• Philippe Boel
• Comte Philippe and Louis de Meeus d’Argenteuil
• Prince Albert de Croy
• Prince Rodolphe de Croy-Roeulx
• Prince Antoine de Ligne
• Comte Bernard, Herve and Yannick d’Ursel
• Comte de Launoit
• Edgar Parser
• Philippe Cruysmans
• Paul Vankerkhoven
• Florimond Damman
• Baron Jean van den Bosch
• Vincent van den Bossch
• Jo Gerard
• Henri Simonet
• Richard van Wijck
• Michel Relecom
• Jean-Pierre de Grafe
• Baron Paul Kronacker

• Rene Bats
• Count Giorgio Gherardi Dandolo
• Jacques Van Offelen
• Fernand Ullens de Schooten
• Freddy Lienard
• Leo Levy
• Jean-Paul Raemaekers?
• Serge Ceuninck
• Jack de Spirlet
• Paul Rohr
• Albert Dupuis
• Aldo Mungo
• Luc Beyer de Rijcke
• Baron Adelin de Yperzele de Strihou
• Robert A. Remy
• Gerard Hupin
• Count Thierry de Limburg Stirum
• Jacques Henri Pirenne
• Owen Boovsen
• Mohamed Charara
• Jose-Marie Alvarez de Toledo
• Joseph Donato
• Pablo Dermizaky Peredo
• Ramiro Andrade
• Kun Park
• Ghazi Al-Tajir
• Zine El Albidine Sebti
• Mirano Dunaievski
• Charles Gordinne
• Raoul Jacquet
• John Keryyn de Meerendre
• Baron Paulus de Chatelet
• Knight Baudouin Ruzette
• Philippe Schepens
• Jean-Paul Van Gysel
• Jacques Vercoutere
• Georges Wolff
• Alain Contini
• John Biggs-Davison
• Florent Peeters
• Paul Van Zeeland
• Theo Van Helvoort
• Alain Laets
• Andre le Maire
• Major Eric Vanlaeke
• Thierry Moreau de Melen
• Andre Mussche
• Marquis Fabrizio Massoni
• Count Yves du Monceau de Bergendal
• Baron Papeians de Morchoven
• Baron A. Greindl
• Yves de Hennin d Boussu Walcourt

• Raymond Lhonneux
• Emile Libert
• Philippe Schepens
• Christian Tavernier
• knight Emmanuel de Theux de Meylandt
• Charles Verpoorten
• Edmond Nerinckx
• Alfred Sluse
• Paul V. Vandoros
• Renaud Coppieters ‘t Wallant
• Jacques Chirac

Klaartje Schrijvers’ List of organizations represented at Cercle, 1980-1981

• Sogetel International (Jacques Armynot du Chatelet)
• Banque Commerciale Zaïroise, Kinshasa (ridder Bauchau)
• Ragheno Beherman Auto-Transport (Joseph Léon Beherman)
• Securitas (Björn Berge)
• Socorin (Ado Blaton, vastgoedmakelaar)
• ASCO (Roger Boas)
• STIB (MIVB) (Didier de Bournonville)
• ICI Europa ltd. (John Boyd)
• Solibra (Xavier de Brabandere)
• Immobiliën La Dunette (Etienne Braun de ter Meeren)
• Hoover Worldwide Corporation New York (Peter Boon)
• Jean Crab&fils (Jacques Breckpot en Thierry de Montjoye)
• United Technologies, Europe (Gregory Breitenbeck en Eugène Vincent McAuliffe)
• Bâtiments et Ponts (Pierre Cabuy)
• Compagnie Bruxelles-Lambert (Jacques de Bruyn, graaf Jean-Pierre de Launoit, Jacques Moulaert en Michel Vivario)
• Mercedes-Benz Belgium (René Cappelle)
• ITT Europe (William Cassidy)
• ESSO Belgium (Renaud Clerinx en Robert Philippe)
• BP Belgium (Georges De Graeve en José De Kimpe)
• Sybetra (André Delforge)
• Kleinwort Benson Europe (Jacques Delvaulx, Jean Ickx en Roger van Ooteghem)
• Union Minière (Pierre De Merre)
• Union Atlantique de Réassurances & Union Atlantique d’Assurances (Yves De Nys)
• World Trade Center (WTC) (Alain, Charlie en Patrick De Pauw)
• Philips Petroleum Chemicals (Ludo De Vleeschauwer van Braekel)
• Banque Crédit Général (Antoine d’Hondt)
• Security Pacific National Bank (Joseph van Dierendonck)
• Banque Bruxelles Lambert (John Dils)
• Ores International (Christian Doat)
• Banque de Suez-Luxembourg (Philippe Donnay)
• Union des Offices étrangers de Tourisme en Belgique et au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (graaf Victor Doret)
• Société Générale de Belgique (André Dubuisson)
• Rheinmetall International (Lodewijk Duyndam)
• Société Kronenbourg Brewery (Didier Ernst)
• Estée Lauder (Roger Eyben)
• Chemin de Chaumont (Jean Fabri)
• Carré. Orban&Partners, Pennsylvania, USA (Charles A. Fagan III)
• Electrobel (Paul Fantoli, Alfred Hubert en Jean-François Pettens)
• BMW Belgium (baron Hughes de Fierlant Dromer en Christian Sack)
• Cégéac-Motors (Raymond Franck)
• Impact FCB Belgium (Maurice Frydman)
• Abelag Aviation(André Ganshof vander Meersch )
• Barclays Bank International (Guy Gillieaux)
• Société d’Entreprises Agricoles SEA (graaf Jean Goblet d’Alviella)
• drukkerij J. Goemaere: Imprimeur du Roi (Patrick Goemaere)
• Texaco Belgium (J. John Goossens)
• Sopex (Alain Grisar)
• Banque Française du Commerce Extérieur, Parijs (Patrick Haizet)
• Sociétés Datsun Belgium (Hiromichi Hashimoto en Joseph Munster)
• ACEC (Midhat Hassib)
• Distrigaz (Robert Georges Havaux)
• Lockwoods Foods Limited (Jacques Heller)
• Renault Belgique Luxembourg (Jean Herdies)
• Bank of America (baron Herry)
• Etablissement Hoover (Pierre Huylebroeck)
• F-16 Europe General Dynamics (Jerry Jones)
• General Dynamics International Corporation (Raymond Jones)
• Vidéoscope (burggraaf Christian de Jonghe d’Ardoye)
• SNC Boels&Begault (Daniel Kervyn de Meerendre)
• IBM Belgium (baron Juan ’t Kint de Roodenbeke en Paul Roch)
• INA Insurance Company of Canada, Toronto, Canada (Milos Knorr)
• Société d’Entreprises Agricoles SEA (baron Paul Kronacker)
• Raffinerie Tirlemontoise (baron Paul Kronacker)
• Diamond Investors & Manufactures (Baudouin Lacroix en Roger Van Looy)
• Compagnie internationale des Wagons-Lits (graaf Jean-Pierre de Launoit)
• RTL-TVI (graaf Jean-Pierre de Launoit)
• Logabax, filiaal van de groep Electrobel (André Laurent en Jean-Claude Leclercq)
• Solvay (Jean-Pierre Leleux)
• Vinçotte en Vinçotte International (Raymond Lhonneux)
• Olivetti Belgium (Vincenzo Mancuso)
• Drukkerij Van Buggenhoudt (André Maquestiau)
• Compagnie Cinématographique Belge (André Maquestiau)
• Graduated Diamond Expert GIA (Marcel Margulies)
• Institut Européen du papier (graaf Louis de Meeûs d’Argenteuil)
• Grundig Belux (Claus Mertens)
• Randstad (Jean-Pierre Meunier)
• Air et Chaleur (Pierre Meurice)
• Setecsa (Maurice Michaux)
• Banque Parisbas (Yves de Monie)
• Fiat Belgio (Adolfo Morelli)
• Stenhouse Reed Shaw (James Morgan)
• Chevron Oil Belgium (Jean Muûls)
• The Taiyo Kobe Bank ltd. Brussels Branch (Kazuya Nakamura)
• Godefroid Coal Trading & Shipping (Armand Nandance)
• Société Générale des Minerais (graaf Yves du Parc Locmaria)
• American Express (Derek Pearmund)
• Healey& Baker (Alain Petit)
• Nixdorf Computers (Jean-Marie Pirnay en Urbain Vanden Bossche)
• Gécamines – Usines de Shituru, Likasi, Zaïre (Jean van Pottelberghe de la Potterie)
• Transcruise Occantour en Cruise Selection (Jacques Pourbaix)
• Trade ARBED Belgium (Albert Prion)
• Hannover Bank Belgium (Jacques Puissant Baeyens)
• Société Générale de Banque (Jacques Purnode en graaf Eric de Villegas de Clercamp)
• International Westminster Bank (Jean-Pierre Quinet)
• Belgian Finance Company, Hongkong (Adelin Remy)
• GeneralCar (Jean-Hubert Robert)
• Pfizer Europe (Maurice Roche)
• Europtube (André Roggemans)
• Batairco (Alain Saint-Remy)
• Promibel (ridder Alain de Sauvage)
• Banque du Crédit Commercial (ridder Albert de Schaetzen van Brienen)
• Eternit (ridder Albert de Schaetzen van Brienen)
• Bank Sparrenhof (Albert van der Scheuren-Deveze)
• Henrijean&Co (baron Philippe Snoy)
• Antiquités et Bijoux Cartier, Parijs (Dragomir Stefan Stefanovich)
• Christie’s Europe (Richard Stern)
• Cinéma Publicitaire Belge (Claude Stora)
• The Bank of Tokyo, Brussel (Masayoshi Tanaka)
• Assurances Nationales (Jacques Taquet)
• Nippon European Bank (Ko Tokuda)
• Union Société Gazières de Belgique (Pierre Ugeux)
• Union Exploitations Electriques en Belgique (Pierre Ugeux)
• Holding Teguise, Groot-Hertogdom Luxemburg (Fernand Ullens de Schooten)
• British Leyland, Belgium (Daniel Vanden Berghe)
• Spencer Stuart Management Consultants (Jean-Marie Van den Borre)
• Siemens (Lionel Van den Bossche)
• Warner-Lambert Belgium (François Vandenbroeck)
• Continental Bank of Chicago, London (Andréi Vandoros)
• Sabena (Carlos Van Rafelghem en Aldo Vastapane)
• Association des Ingénieurs en Sciences Nucléaires Appliquées (Georges Vanvrekom)
• Sobelair en Belgian Skyshops (Aldo Vastapane)
• Unilever Belgium (Roger Verstraeten)
• Généralvoyage (Xavier de Wilde d’Estmael)
• Shell Belgium (baron Guy de Wouters d’Oplinter)
• The European Petrochemical Association (Eric Yates)
• Ziegler (Robert A. Ziegler)

Appendix B: Cercle de Lorraine membership list

• Count Etienne Davignon
• Count Maurice Lippens
• Count Leopold Lippens
• Gerard Mestrallet
• Baron Albert Frere
• Baron Daniel Cardon de Lichtbuer, honorary committee
• Comte Jean-Pierre de Launoit, co-vice-president
• Jean-Pierre Laurent Josi
• Christian Boas
• Frederic De Selliers De Moranville
• Philippe De Selliers De Moranville

Notes