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, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium since 2009. He was the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008 and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from 1985 to 1992. He was a Member of the Chamber of Representatives from 1985 to 2009.
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.
Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel (adjacent) and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The Dyle flows through the city, hence it is often referred to as the Dijlestad.
The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats is a Flemish conservative-liberal political party in Belgium. The party was created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 until March 2008. Open VLD most recently formed the Federal Government with N-VA, CD&V and the Francophone Reformist Movement (MR).
The New Flemish Alliance is a Flemish nationalist, conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). The N-VA is a regionalist, separatist movement that self-identifies with the promotion of civic nationalism. It is part of the Flemish Movement; the party strives for the peaceful and gradual secession of Flanders from Belgium. In recent years it has become the largest party of Flanders as well as of Belgium as a whole, and it participated in the 2014–18 Belgian Government until 9 December 2018.
The Reformist Movement is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium. The party is in coalition as part of the Michel Government then Wilmès Government since October 2014, having provided two prime ministers since. After the 2007 general election the MR was the largest Francophone political formation in Belgium, a position that was regained by the Socialist Party in the 2010 general election.
The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. It is also known as the Brussels Regional Parliament.
The Flemish Region, usually simply referred to as Flanders, is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. It occupies the northern part of Belgium and covers an area of 13,625 km2 (5,261 sq mi). It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around 490/km2 (1,300/sq mi).
Elections in Belgium are organised for legislative bodies only, and not for executive functions. Direct elections take place for the European Parliament, the bicameral Federal Parliament, the Parliaments of the Communities and Regions, the provincial councils, the municipal councils and a few district councils. Voting is mandatory and all elections use proportional representation which in general requires coalition governments.
Philip Claeys is a Belgian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Flanders with the Vlaams Belang, a right-wing political party which condemns social integration without proper assimilation into existing culture and is opposed the federal construction of Belgium. He sits on its Committee on Foreign Affairs, and is a substitute for the Committee on Culture and Education and a member of the Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand. Since late 2010, he has been a board member of the pan-European eurosceptic party European Alliance for Freedom.
Marianne Leonie Petrus Thyssen is a Belgian politician of the Christian Democratic and Flemish Party (CD&V) who served as European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility between 2014 and 2019.
Matthias Edward Storme is a Belgian lawyer, academic and conservative philosopher.
Geert Albert Bourgeois is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which he founded in 2001, who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously served as the Minister-President of Flanders from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this, he was a member of the federal Chamber of Representatives for the People's Union from 1995 to 2001, and then for the N-VA from 2001 to 2004. He has been involved in local and regional politics in Flanders since 1976.
Luc Van den Brande is a Flemish politician, member of the CD&V and was Minister-president of Flanders from 21 January 1992 until 13 July 1999. He took the initiative to create the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB). On 6 February 2008 he became President of the European Union's Committee of the Regions for a period of two years.
Libertarian, Direct, Democratic is a conservative-liberal, libertarian, right-wing populist Flemish political party in Belgium.
Derk Jan Eppink is a Dutch journalist, politician in Belgium and the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for European Commissioners Bolkestein (1999–2004) and Kallas (2004–2007). In 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament for List Dedecker, and in 2019 for Forum for Democracy. He sits on the European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive.
Mark Demesmaeker is a Belgian TV journalist, newsreader and politician, affiliated to the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA).
Wilfried Vandaele is a Belgian politician and is affiliated to the N-VA. He has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 2009 and has served as its speaker between 13 July and 2 October 2019. He is also the current mayor of his home town De Haan.
Johan Van Overtveldt is a Belgian journalist and politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). He served as Minister of Finance of Belgium from 2014 until 2018.
