In Belgium’s national elections, right-wing populist parties made gains largely at the expense of left-wing and green parties.
This prompted Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, leader of the liberal coalition government, to announce his resignation.
“For us it was a particularly difficult evening, we lost. From tomorrow, I will be a resigning Prime Minister. But the liberals [will be back],” De Croo said.
While no single party saw a landslide victory, gains for parties like the New Flemish Alliance and Vlaams Belang, coupled with losses for Green parties, shifted the political picture sufficiently to make De Croo’s current centrist coalition untenable.
As a known critic of former U.S. President Trump and supporter of abortion rights, De Croo’s resignation signals a potential rightward shift in Belgian politics as he remains caretaker PM during forthcoming government formation talks.
