Flemish Liberal Alexander De Croo Appointed Prime Minister

Belgium has a new gov't in the form of a seven-party coalition led by Alexander De Croo from the Flemish-speaking centre-right liberal Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD).

• The coalition, known as the 'Vivaldi coalition', is Belgium's first established majority gov't in 16 months since the collapse of the Michel gov't in Dec 2018.
• It will comprise four Flemish-speaking parties and three French-speaking parties.
  • Flemish: Open VLD (centre-right liberal), Christian Democratic and Flemish (centrist Christian democratic), Socialist Party Differently (centre-left), Groen (environmentalist, left-wing).
  • Walloon: Socialist Party (centre-left), Reformist Movement (centre-right liberal), Ecolo (environmentalist, left-wing).
• The multi-party coalition excludes the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). Its president Bart de Wever has strongly criticised the Vivaldi coalition due to French-speaking MPs forming a majority of the governing coalition (47 of the 88 seats).
• According to reports from Politico, the new gov't will put forward EUR3.3bn for new policies during the current parliament that lasts until 2024. This will include EUR2.3bn for social spending and EUR1.0bn for defence, security and justice.
• While providing a measure of stability after a long period with only a caretaker gov't, the new coalition could entrench the already stark divisions in Belgian political society. The two largest parties in the Chamber of Deputies, the N-VA and the right-wing Flemish Interest (VB), are both outright supporters of Flemish independence. The fact neither has been included in gov't (N-VA being the most likely given VB's far-right views) is likely to feed into the narrative that Flemish voices are not catered to within the Belgian political system.