[19] During its early years, the N-VA mostly followed the platform of the former VU by characterising itself as a big tent[20] party with Flemish nationalism as its central theme.

[21] In subsequent years, the N-VA moved to the right and adopted a distinctly conservative identity under the leadership of Bart De Wever, who succeeded the founding leader Geert Bourgeois.

Towards the end of the 20th century, with a steadily declining electorate and the majority of the party's federalist agenda implemented, friction between several wings of the People's Union emerged.

Many of the VU's more ardent national-conservative members defected to the Vlaams Blok after becoming disgruntled with direction of the party, prompting a further decline in support.

[30] Tension rose towards the end of the decade, as Geert Bourgeois was elected chairman by party members, in preference to the incumbent and progressive Patrik Vankrunkelsven who belonged to the iD21 wing.

Factions subsequently clashed multiple times, over the future course of the party and possible support for current state reform negotiations.

In the Belgian federal election of 2007, the CD&V/N-VA cartel won a major victory again, with a campaign focusing on good governance, state reform and the division of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.

The cartel ended definitively on 24 September 2008, due to lack of progression in state reform matters and a different strategy on future negotiations.

[32] The N-VA made a major breakthrough and won the elections with just under 28% of the Flemish votes in the Chamber (31% in the Senate), making it the largest party in Flanders and Belgium.

In December 2018, a political crisis emerged over whether to sign the Global Compact for Migration; N-VA was against this, whereas the other three parties in the federal government supported it.

Early 2025, Bart De Wever became Belgian Prime Minister, after which Steven Vandeput was appointed as interim president until the next party elections.

In its initial mission statement, the party stated that the challenges of the 21st century can best be answered by strong communities and by well-developed international co-operation, a position which reflected in their tagline: "Necessary in Flanders, useful in Europe."

[2][43][44] The N-VA initially advocated deepening ties with the European Union but in recent years it has been defined as moderately eurosceptic and growing more EU-critical.

Although the N-VA articulated its ideology as centre-right, it also borrowed from its Volksunie predecessor by presenting itself as a big tent or a catch-all party and a socially liberal nationalist movement that combined left- and right-wing policies but focused on Flemish issues above all else.

The N-VA also summed up its initial platform with the motto Evolution, not Revolution, arguing for a more pragmatic and less radical approach to Flemish nationalism.

[46] This strategy assumed that through successive transfers of powers from the federal level to both regions on the one hand, and the European Union on the other, the Belgian state will gradually become obsolete.

The party supported public transport, open source software, renewable energy and taxing cars by the number of kilometres driven.

[48][49][50][51] Political scientist Glen Duerr has described the N-VA's current position as evolving to somewhere between that of Vlaams Belang and CD&V, defining itself as a small conservative party while rejecting radical populism.

[53] Since 2014, the N-VA has been described as continuing to move ideologically further to the right under the influence of Bart De Wever and Theo Francken by adopting tougher stances on immigration, integration of minorities, requirements to obtain Belgian citizenship, law and order, national security and repatriation of foreign born criminals and illegal immigrants.

[57][58] The N-VA is part of the broader Flemish nationalist movement and describes its beliefs as combining civic and cultural nationalism.

[60] The N-VA believes the solution is to redefine the federal Belgian state as a confederal union by means of transferring powers separately to both communities with a smaller government in Brussels that handles core issues like defense and security, while the Flemish and Walloon regions are given more decision making abilities.

The N-VA argues that Flanders should pursue more independent economic, taxation and foreign policies which it believes will lead to gradual Flemish secessionism.

The party also supports a review into financial transfers from Flanders to Brussels and the Wallonia region, arguing that such a policy threatens solidarity between different linguistic groups and has been a burden on Flemish tax payers.

The N-VA also argues that dual nationals should be stripped of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism and other serious crimes and for the removal of illegal immigrants.

[37] Some commentators have attributed these shifts as a response to a revival in support for the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang, which also campaigned against the Migration Compact.

[65] The party has a what it calls a ecorealism stance, arguing for constructive methods and the use of green technology and expanding Belgium's nuclear power stations to mitigate climate change.

[68] In terms of foreign policy, the N-VA's stance on the European Union began as strongly pro-European in character (which it regarded as an important means of gaining legitimacy for Flemish nationalism on an international stage); in 2010, the party called for "an ever stronger and more united Europe."

[71][72] On economic policy, the N-VA calls for reduced national debts and balanced budget in the Flemish and Federal Parliaments.

In the 2014 federal elections, N-VA increased their dominant position, taking votes and seats from the far-right Flemish Interest.

With a decline of 24.7% of their votes compared to 2014, the N-VA suffered the biggest election defeat of any Flemish government party in the last fifty years.