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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.
Wallonia is a region of Belgium. As the southern portion of the country, Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of Belgium's territory, but only a third of its population. The Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium, which is the political entity responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education, because the French Community of Belgium encompasses both Wallonia and the majority French-Speaking Brussels-Capital Region.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The Liberal Reformist Party was a liberal political party active in the Walloon Region and Brussels in Belgium. The PRL grew out of the Francophone part of the unitary liberal Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP) in 1971 and merged into the Reformist Movement (RM) in 2002.
Jacques Santer is a Luxembourg politician who served as the 9th President of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. He served as Finance Minister of Luxembourg from 1979 until 1989, and the 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1984 to 1995, as a member of the Christian Social People's Party, which has been the leading party in the Luxembourg government since 1979. As Prime Minister of Luxembourg he also led the negotiations on the Single European Act, which effectively set aside the 20-year-old Luxembourg Compromise.
The Parliament of Wallonia is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium. The parliament building, the former Hospice Saint-Gilles, is situated in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, at the symbolic confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre, the two main rivers of the most inhabited parts of Wallonia, the Sillon industriel. On the other side of the Meuse, facing the Parliament, is the Élysette, the seat of the Walloon government.
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Philippe Busquin is a Belgian politician.
Melchior H. M. J. F. C. Wathelet is a Belgian politician and member of the Humanist Democratic Centre who served as 4th Minister-President of Wallonia. He has degrees in law and in economics and is a Master of Laws. He is also a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and the Université de Liège. From 1995 to 2003 he was a Judge at the European Court of Justice. Since October 2012 Wathelet serves as advocate-general at the Court of Justice.
Marie Arena is a Belgian politician who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2014. She is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists.
Rattachism or Reunionism (Réunionisme) is a minor political ideology which calls for the French-speaking Belgium or Wallonia to secede from the state of Belgium and become part of France. Brussels, which is majority French-speaking but enclave in Flanders, may be included within this ideology as may the six Flemish municipalities with language facilities for French-speakers. It can be considered a French-speaking equivalent of Orangism or Grootneerlandisme in Flanders.
Michel Daerden was a francophone Belgian politician, a member of the Parti Socialiste, and a Finance auditor.
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 7 June 2009 to choose representatives in the regional parliaments of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. These elections were held on the same day as the European elections.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
References
- ↑ "Jacques Gennen". Walloon Parliament. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- ↑ "Infos personnelles". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
