Hopes had grown in recent days that De Wever could reverse his position if the European Commission were to offer him legal guarantees in the proposal that Belgium would not be financially exposed. But despite increasing diplomatic pressure for Belgium to cave, De Wever on Thursday only increased his hostility to the Commission’s plans. Expanding … Read more
“We agreed on the what, now we have to work on the how,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters. Faced with the Commission’s reassurances that the financial operation carried little risk, Belgian diplomats replied in internal EU meetings that a plane had little chance of crashing — but if that happens, tens of … Read more
Coalition talks between De Wever’s right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Francophone center-right Reformist Movement (MR), the Francophone centrist Les Engagés, the centrist Christian Democrat and Flemish Party and the center-left Flemish Vooruit party — dubbed the “Arizona” coalition after the colors of the American state’s flag — hit multiple bumps in the road. Belgium’s … Read more