Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has called on Bart De Wever, leader of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, to collaborate with his liberals Open VLD in forming a centre-right
federal government after the upcoming elections. For this coalition to materialize, the N-VA would need to abandon its push for state reform.
During a debate hosted by TV channel VTM on Sunday, ahead of the June 9 elections, De Croo extended an invitation to De Wever to create a centre-right coalition. In French-speaking Belgium, De Croo aims to partner with Les Engagés and the MR, while the N-VA is the preferred ally in Flanders. However, this would require the N-VA to cease negotiations with the Walloon socialists PS on community reforms, a topic De Wever has long championed, advocating for confederalism.
Throughout the debate, De Wever criticized the federal government's policies over the past four years, while De Croo targeted Flemish ministers Ben Weyts and Zuhal Demir, both from the N-VA. Earlier in the week, the two politicians clashed again on the political TV programme Het Conclaaf.
De Croo condemned the Flemish government's performance, particularly pointing out the issues in environment and education overseen by Demir and Weyts. De Wever, on the other hand, focused his criticism on what he perceives as the failures of the federal government. He also emphasized his reluctance to form a Flemish government with parties that support a federal government lacking a Flemish majority. Photo by European Commission, Wikimedia commons.