Hilde Vautmans


Hilde Vautmans is a Belgian politician, who, since January 2015 has served as a Member of the European Parliament, representing the Dutch-speaking electoral college of Belgium for the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten
Vautmans served as assistant to both senator Valère Vautmans, her uncle, and senator Stef Goris. She subsequently worked in the cabinet of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, and helped him with legalising same-sex marriage in Belgium.

Political career

Member of the Belgian Parliament, 2003–2010

Vautmans served in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from 2003 to 2010. She chaired the Committee on Foreign Affairs from September 2007 to July 2009 and was Open Vld group leader from July 2009 to June 2010. She was not re-elected in 2010.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

Vautmans became Member of the European Parliament as successor to Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, who resigned at the end of 2014. In the European Parliament, Vautmans is member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
In addition to her committee assignments, Vautmans is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights; the Elie Wiesel Network of Parliamentarians for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and against Genocide Denial; the MEPs Against Cancer group; and the MEP Horse Group.
Vautmans is also active in local politics in Sint-Truiden and previously in Hasselt.

Political positions

In 2020, Vautmans and Katalin Cseh initiated an open letter, in which a group of 23 members of the Renew Europe group called on Josep Borrell to push for coordinated sanctions targeted at Chinese leaders and officials responsible for human rights violations in the Xinjiang re-education camps and in Hong Kong.