Brussels, 18/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Members of the European Parliament's ALDE Group and members of the Flemish nationalist party, the Nieuw-Vlaams Alliantie (N-VA), will have to wait a little longer to make their marriage official.
While the European Parliament's ALDE Group, chaired by Guy Verhofstadt (Belgium), approved the participation on Tuesday evening of 4 N-VA members, the N-VA, led by Bart de Wever (Flanders, Belgium), said on Wednesday 18 June that it had not yet taken a decision - or even sent an official request - on joining the ALDE Group. According to Belgian news agency Belga, this was a step that was likely to be taken on Wednesday evening.
Members of the ALDE Group met late on Tuesday and, while returning Verhofstadt to the leadership, approved the arrival of the N-VA members - despite the abstention of some national delegations, including the Belgians from the liberal Mouvement Réformateur party (MR), and the French from the centrist Mouvement Démocratique party (MoDem). They also approved the arrival of four other parties - the Czech Republic's ANO, Portugal's MPT party, and two Spanish parties - the UpyD and Ciutadans (the Catalan party wanting independence for Catalonia). With the confirmation of these members' participation, the ALDE Group can now claim 67 seats - and 71 if the NV-A confirms its membership. ALDE could then confirm its place as the third force in the European Parliament - a place that is currently held by the conservatives of the ECR Group. (SP)