Nationalist De Wever Premier Of Belgium

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST/BRUSSELS (Worthy News) – Conservative nationalist Bart De Wever has been sworn in as Belgium’s new prime minister after he toned down his rhetoric to make the nation’s Dutch-speaking Vlaanderen (Flanders) region an independent country.

His premiership also followed seven months of tough talks on moving Belgium further to the right, a move welcomed by nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has long been isolated within the European Union.

De Wever and Orbán were already seen smiling at an EU event. The coalition agreement struck Friday allowed the 54-year-old to take the oath of office before King Philippe in a ceremony at the royal palace in Brussels.

From there, he was due to head straight to a gathering of European Union leaders a few blocks away for talks on defense and transatlantic relations. Brussels hosts the EU institutions, including the 27-nation bloc’s European Parliament.

Split between French- and Dutch-speaking communities and with a highly complex political system, Belgium has seen records-breaking protracted coalition discussions – reaching 541 days in 2010-11.

This time, five groups sought to forge a coalition after June elections that failed to produce a clear majority – with talks led by De Wever’s conservative N-VA, which claimed the most seats.

The new government brings together three parties from Dutch-speaking Flanders: De Wever’s N-VA, the centrist Christian Democrats, and the leftist Vooruit (Onward).

FRENCH SPEAKING

It includes two from French-speaking Wallonia: the centrist Les Engages and the centre-right Reformist Movement. Together, they hold an 81-seat majority in Belgium’s 150-seat parliament.

Coalition talks over plugging the country’s budget deficit—4.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2023—hit a wall during the summer.

Belgium is one of seven European Union countries facing disciplinary action for running a deficit above 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), violating the EU’s fiscal rules.

De Wever, the mayor of Antwerp since 2013, pushed for cuts in social benefits and pension reforms that have already sparked opposition from labor unions.

He is also critical of migration, an essential issue in Belgium, where many have arrived from mainly Muslim war-torn and impoverished nations.

De Wever’s N-VA was part of a right-leaning ruling coalition between 2014 and 2018. He takes over as prime minister from Alexander De Croo, whose seven-party coalition took 493 days to emerge in 2019-20.

De Croo had stayed as caretaker leader after the June elections, enabling them to take his time hammering out a complex government agreement.

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