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Belgium has succeeded after almost eight months of talks in the formation of an in power coalition, for the first time by a nationalist party on the right, as the anti-establishment political forces increase their power in Europe.
Bart de Wever, founding member of the N-VA party, will be Prime Minister. N-VA pleaded for greater independence for Flanders, the Dutch half of Belgium, and pushed for it and Wallonia, the French-speaking part, existed as confederal states.
After Wever met King Philippe late Friday, the palace announced that a government agreement had been concluded.
Maxime Prévot, leader of Les Engages, one of the coalition partners, said: “Here we are! Belgium finally has a courageous and responsible government agreement which thinks of future generations. »»
De Wever initially reacted on X, quoting Julius Caesar by crossing the Rubicon: Alea Iacta is! (The fili is sunk).
The Flemish nationalist will be the first N-VA politician to become a Prime Minister, having led the party since 2004. He has been mayor of Antwerp, the second city in the country, since 2013.
As mayor, he pleaded for strong measures to repress the smuggling of cocaine at the port of Antwerp, including the call in the army.
He recently wrote AwakeningA book in which he blamed “a good part of the intellectual elite” for having pushed people to more extreme right groups.
De Wever joins the ranks of other nationalist leaders on the right of the EU, strengthening the voice of the party of conservatives and European reformists around the table of the EU council, which also includes leaders such as Italy Giorgio Meloni.
If he is sworn in by Monday, one of the first Wever’s appointments could be to attend a retirement from EU leaders focused on European defense.
The new coalition, known as Arizona because the colors of the parts align with those of the flag of the American State, will also understand the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V) and the Vooruit on the left, and on the French -speaking side, The Liberal Reformer of the Moving (MR) and the centrists the engagements.
NV-A holds 24 of the 82 seats held by coalition parties in the National Parliament.
Belgium has a history of long government training, partly because of its regional division, which means that the parties with various linguistic and political affinities must negotiate to form a joint federal government.
In 2011, the country broke the longest record from all democracy without government in peacetime – 541 days, with an agreement concluded after almost 500 days of talks.
The talks in Arizona almost failed at the last minute, with talks over time and late in Friday evening.
In the June elections of last year, N-VA won the largest share of votes with around 16%, followed by Vlaams Belang (VB), a far-right party which defends the complete secession of Flanders, which has been sidelined in the coalition speaks.
Negotiations between the five coalition parties were complicated by ideological differences in political areas, including budgetary reform and budget. De Wever had called for radical tax reductions and a budgetary reform, which was difficult to swallow for the left left party.
