BRUSSELS, Belgium
Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has announced his resignation after disappointing federal and regional election results.
"This is is a very
difficult evening for us. We have lost this election," De Croo told
supporters, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
His Flemish liberal party,
Open VLD, is projected to lose almost half its seats in the Chamber of
Representatives.
Sunday's
vote in the linguistically divided country, which is split between
Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south,
was held on the same day as the European Parliament elections.
The right-wing nationalist New
Flemish Alliance (N-VA) is projected to finish in first place with 17% of the
vote, with the far-right Vlaams Belang securing 14% of the vote.
"Our obituaries were
written, but we won these elections," said N-VA leader Bart De Wever, who
now looks a good bet to become Belgium's next prime minister.
The N-VA and Vlaams Belang are
also expected to finish in first and second place in the Flemish
parliament.
Parties in Flanders, including
the N-VA, have a long-standing agreement to keep the far right out of
government in the region.
De Wever, who wants to be the
next prime minister, has repeatedly insisted that he will not make a deal with
Vlaams Belang this time either.
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