So it makes sense
Belgium has spent years demonstrating what happens when a state splits into two language halves with their own parties, their own media and their own politics. Flanders and Wallonia vote so differently that forming a government takes months and sometimes more than a year. It is also the seat of the Union institutions, which creates an odd effect: „Brussels" is in the news daily, but almost never about Belgium.
- Who governs
- The prime minister is Bart De Wever (N-VA), leader of the Flemish nationalists, heading a coalition that spans the language divide. On the budget he is holding a line of cutting payroll charges and facing the question of where the money comes from. A long-running theme of his government is drug violence in Antwerp, which the socialists blame on the "Antwerp connection" inside the cabinet.
- Who opposes
- To the government’s right stands the far-right Vlaams Belang, long strong in Flanders. From the left it is pressed by Groen and the francophone socialists. Belgian opposition also breaks along language lines — Flemish and Walloon parties judge the same decision in opposite ways.
- Next election
- The next federal election is expected in 2029.
