Brussels, 13/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Having taken their oaths on 11 October, Charles Michel, Belgium's new Prime Minister, and his team have received the congratulations of the Presidents of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.
José Manuel Barroso expressed his certainty that at a time when Europe is starting to come out of financial crisis, the Commission will be able to count on the “attentive and benevolent support” of the new Belgian government.
Charles Michel is a member of the reform movement, a centre-right French-speaking party. He has formed an alliance with three Flemish-speaking parties to put together a government coalition. These parties are the Flemish nationalist party (N-VA), which holds the majority, the Christian Democrats (CD&V) and the Liberals (Open Vld). This centre-right government coalition has been sealed just short of five months after the elections of 25 May of this year. The outgoing government, led by Socialist Elio Di Rupo, took more than 500 days to put together, plunging the Kingdom of Belgium into an unprecedented political crisis. (MD)