Belgium set for new govt after long talks

After nearly eight months of political deadlock following the June 9 election, Belgium is set to finally form a new government, with Bart De Wever, leader of the right-wing New Flemish Alliance, poised to become prime minister.

Five Belgian parties struck a coalition deal on Friday following months of arduous negotiations and a recent ultimatum from King Philippe, who had urged De Wever to secure a deal by the end of January or face a new national election.

De Wever informed the king of the breakthrough during a meeting on Friday, the Belgian Royal Palace said on Saturday. The 54-year-old marked the occasion with a post on X late on Friday, quoting Julius Caesar's Latin phrase, "Alea iacta est!" (the die is cast) along with a photo of him shaking hands with the king.

The next steps will involve coalition parties agreeing on the names for the new cabinet, which will then be submitted to the king for approval. Once the king signs the decrees, the new government will be sworn in.

De Wever, who has served as mayor of Antwerp since 2013, will become the first nationalist from the Dutch-speaking region to assume the role of Belgian prime minister, though his nationalist view has softened greatly over the years.

Besides his New Flemish Alliance, the new government will include two other parties from the Dutch-speaking Flanders region — the centrist Christian-Democrats and the leftist Vooruit — and two from French-speaking Wallonia — the centrist Les Engages and the center-right Reformist Movement. Together, the coalition holds 81 seats in Belgium's 150-seat Parliament.

Absent from the coalition is Vlaams Belang, a popular Flemish nationalist party that calls for the secession of the Flemish region from Belgium.

De Wever will succeed Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, whose seven-party coalition took 493 days to form after the 2019 election. De Croo has served as caretaker leader since the June election, when the New Flemish Alliance won the most seats.

Belgium's record for the longest period without a government was set after the 2010 election, when it took 541 days to form a new administration, ultimately leading to the appointment of Elio Di Rupo from Wallonia as prime minister.

With the new government, Belgium joins a list of European Union states led by right-wing nationalist parties, such as Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Hungary's Viktor Orban.

The European Conservatives and Reformists, of which the New Flemish Alliance is a member, said its co-chairs, Nicola Procaccini and Patryk Jaki, congratulated De Wever on successfully forming Belgium's new coalition government. "ECR Group parties will now have prime ministers leading governments in three EU countries," it said.

Alberto Alemanno, a professor of EU law at HEC Paris business school, said on X, "Boom: This makes 15 out of 27 EU governments on the right."

De Wever is no stranger to Belgium-China ties. He has visited China as mayor of Antwerp — a sister city with Shanghai since 1984. Dressed in Chinese attire, he attended the Chinese New Year parade in Antwerp in 2019 and has met various Chinese officials and business leaders over the years.