June 9, 2024 5:56 PM
Belgian Prime Minister resigns after party suffers crushing defeat in national and European elections
Niamh Kennedy and James Frater, CNN
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo arrives in Brussels on February 1 to attend the European Union summit.
Ksenia Kuleshova/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has resigned following his party’s crushing defeat in Sunday’s national and European elections.
The 48-year-old struggled to hold back tears as he announced the decision in Brussels on Sunday night.
“I was the voice of this campaign. This is not the outcome I wanted. I therefore take responsibility for this outcome. It was not meant to happen,” De Croo told reporters. “As of tomorrow I will step down as prime minister and focus entirely on the issues at hand,” he added.
As for the European Parliament, De Croo’s Open VLD party also performed poorly, receiving just 5.8% of the vote, according to an RTBF poll. The far-right Vlemish Party and the Flemish nationalist N-VA were in a close race, receiving 14.8% and 14.2% of the vote, respectively, according to the RTBF poll.
In his resignation speech, De Croo promised to allow a “proper transfer of power” to his successor and stressed he remained convinced that Belgium “needs a new government with full powers to get the job done”.
