Political parties in Belgium on Friday agreed to form a new government, the office of King Philippe of Belgium said, ending almost eight months of complicated talks that followed the election victory of Flemish nationalist party, New Flemish Alliance (N-VA).
N-VA leader Bart de Wever, 54, is expected to become prime minister and lead a broad five-party coalition, which includes Christian democrats and socialists from the Dutch-speaking north of the country as well as liberal and centrist parties from the French-speaking south.
Coalition talks dragged on for months as parties struggled to agree on the budget cuts, tax hikes and pension reforms De Wever insisted on to improve government finances.
Photo: AFP
During almost 32 hours of non-stop negotiations that ran into Friday evening, the parties agreed on measures and other sticking points.
Those included an agreement to increase defense spending in the coming years to the minimum level of 2 percent of GDP agreed among NATO countries and to limit asylum migration, newspaper De Tijd said, citing sources close to the talks.
De Wever presented the pact on Friday evening to King Philippe, but gave no details to reporters.
“The die is cast,” De Wever wrote on X, adding a picture of him meeting the king at the palace.
“De Wever has informed the king of the government pact agreed among by the parties of the future coalition,” the king’s office said, adding that De Wever would now proceed to appoint ministers to his cabinet.
The far-right Flemish Interest party was excluded from the government talks, although the anti-immigration party made the largest gains in the election last year and became the country’s second-largest party.
In Belgium, where the federal government is always formed through coalitions, political parties have consistently refused to include the Flemish Interest party due to its anti-immigrant and anti-EU stance as well as its aim to split up the country.
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