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Bart De Wever
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (Dutch: [ˈbɑrt də ˈʋeːvər]; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian author, historian and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025. From 2004 to 2025, De Wever had been the leader of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a political party advocating for the transformation of Belgium into a confederal state. From January 2013 to February 2025, he was Mayor of Antwerp, following the 2012 municipal elections.
De Wever presided over his party's victory in the 2010 federal elections when N-VA became the largest party in both Flanders and in Belgium as a whole. He accomplished this again in the subsequent three elections, eventually being tasked with forming a new government by King Philippe following the 2024 elections.
After more than eight months of negotiations between the parties N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés, it was announced on 31 January 2025 that an agreement had been reached, with De Wever becoming the prime minister-designate. On 3 February 2025, De Wever took the oath of office, becoming the first Flemish nationalist politician to hold the office of prime minister of Belgium.
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever was born on 21 December 1970 in Mortsel and grew up in Kontich, where his parents Irene and Henri owned a small supermarket. His father had previously worked for a Belgian railway company and was briefly active in the Vlaamse Militanten Orde before becoming a local administrator for the Volksunie. De Wever's older brother is historian and professor Bruno De Wever, who teaches at Ghent University. His grandfather had been the secretary of the Flemish National Union, a Flemish far-right party from the interwar period that had been recognised as the ruling party of Flanders during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. However, during an interview, Bart De Wever nuanced his grandfather's past by claiming he had not collaborated with the Nazis.
De Wever began studying a law degree at the University of Antwerp, but dropped out before switching to study history at Saint Ignatius University Centre, Antwerp and then the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), graduating with a licentiate (equivalent of the master's degree). As a student he was a member of the classical liberal Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV, Liberal Flemish Students' Union) and the conservative Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond (KVHV, Catholic Flemish Students' Union) of Antwerp and Leuven. He is a former editor-in-chief of the KVHV newspapers Tegenstroom (magazine of KVHV in Antwerp) and Ons Leven (in Leuven). After graduating, he was employed as a research assistant working on the Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging (New Encyclopedia of the Flemish Movement), as well as publishing a magazine article on the influence of Joris Van Severen.
De Wever initially started his political career as a member of the Volksunie (People's Union) party, which his father had belonged to, and was elected as a municipal councilor in Berchem for the party. During the ideological splits in the Volksunie, De Wever became part of the so-called Oranjehofgroep along with Frieda Brepoels, Eric Defoort, Ben Weyts and Geert Bourgeois. The Oranjehofgroup was a political clique within the Volksunie composed of right-wing, conservative-liberal and Flemish nationalist members who opposed the left-orientated direction the party was being taken under Bert Anciaux. The members of the Oranjehofgroep would later found the N-VA together.
In 2004, he was elected as party leader of the N-VA with 95% of the votes, being the only candidate up for election. Initially, the N-VA had followed the political style of the People's Union by characterizing itself as a big tent party; however, under De Wever's leadership the N-VA took on a conservative identity and has seen a rise in support since. De Wever went through a rough stretch in 2006, when he accepted the conservative-liberal Jean-Marie Dedecker as an N-VA member, causing a split with the CD&V party. In order to reconcile the party, Dedecker had to leave. Although he was extensively criticised, the local N-VA leaders permitted De Wever to remain as N-VA president.[citation needed]
In 2007, a photograph was released of De Wever attending a conference held by the French extreme-right Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1996 at the Flemish National Debate Club in Antwerp. In response to the controversy, De Wever stated "I had just finished my studies and I thought it was a unique opportunity to hear Le Pen, who was at the time a major figure in French politics. I am a legalist, with democratic convictions, but I have an Anglo-Saxon conception of freedom of expression: in a democracy, everyone must be free to express their opinion, even if it is an opinion that I hate. And I always prefer to have information first-hand rather than in a filtered manner." De Wever later criticized Le Pen as a "a showman who had no answers for anything" and said he had no connections to Le Pen's party.
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Bart De Wever
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (Dutch: [ˈbɑrt də ˈʋeːvər]; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian author, historian and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025. From 2004 to 2025, De Wever had been the leader of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a political party advocating for the transformation of Belgium into a confederal state. From January 2013 to February 2025, he was Mayor of Antwerp, following the 2012 municipal elections.
De Wever presided over his party's victory in the 2010 federal elections when N-VA became the largest party in both Flanders and in Belgium as a whole. He accomplished this again in the subsequent three elections, eventually being tasked with forming a new government by King Philippe following the 2024 elections.
After more than eight months of negotiations between the parties N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés, it was announced on 31 January 2025 that an agreement had been reached, with De Wever becoming the prime minister-designate. On 3 February 2025, De Wever took the oath of office, becoming the first Flemish nationalist politician to hold the office of prime minister of Belgium.
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever was born on 21 December 1970 in Mortsel and grew up in Kontich, where his parents Irene and Henri owned a small supermarket. His father had previously worked for a Belgian railway company and was briefly active in the Vlaamse Militanten Orde before becoming a local administrator for the Volksunie. De Wever's older brother is historian and professor Bruno De Wever, who teaches at Ghent University. His grandfather had been the secretary of the Flemish National Union, a Flemish far-right party from the interwar period that had been recognised as the ruling party of Flanders during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. However, during an interview, Bart De Wever nuanced his grandfather's past by claiming he had not collaborated with the Nazis.
De Wever began studying a law degree at the University of Antwerp, but dropped out before switching to study history at Saint Ignatius University Centre, Antwerp and then the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), graduating with a licentiate (equivalent of the master's degree). As a student he was a member of the classical liberal Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV, Liberal Flemish Students' Union) and the conservative Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond (KVHV, Catholic Flemish Students' Union) of Antwerp and Leuven. He is a former editor-in-chief of the KVHV newspapers Tegenstroom (magazine of KVHV in Antwerp) and Ons Leven (in Leuven). After graduating, he was employed as a research assistant working on the Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging (New Encyclopedia of the Flemish Movement), as well as publishing a magazine article on the influence of Joris Van Severen.
De Wever initially started his political career as a member of the Volksunie (People's Union) party, which his father had belonged to, and was elected as a municipal councilor in Berchem for the party. During the ideological splits in the Volksunie, De Wever became part of the so-called Oranjehofgroep along with Frieda Brepoels, Eric Defoort, Ben Weyts and Geert Bourgeois. The Oranjehofgroup was a political clique within the Volksunie composed of right-wing, conservative-liberal and Flemish nationalist members who opposed the left-orientated direction the party was being taken under Bert Anciaux. The members of the Oranjehofgroep would later found the N-VA together.
In 2004, he was elected as party leader of the N-VA with 95% of the votes, being the only candidate up for election. Initially, the N-VA had followed the political style of the People's Union by characterizing itself as a big tent party; however, under De Wever's leadership the N-VA took on a conservative identity and has seen a rise in support since. De Wever went through a rough stretch in 2006, when he accepted the conservative-liberal Jean-Marie Dedecker as an N-VA member, causing a split with the CD&V party. In order to reconcile the party, Dedecker had to leave. Although he was extensively criticised, the local N-VA leaders permitted De Wever to remain as N-VA president.[citation needed]
In 2007, a photograph was released of De Wever attending a conference held by the French extreme-right Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1996 at the Flemish National Debate Club in Antwerp. In response to the controversy, De Wever stated "I had just finished my studies and I thought it was a unique opportunity to hear Le Pen, who was at the time a major figure in French politics. I am a legalist, with democratic convictions, but I have an Anglo-Saxon conception of freedom of expression: in a democracy, everyone must be free to express their opinion, even if it is an opinion that I hate. And I always prefer to have information first-hand rather than in a filtered manner." De Wever later criticized Le Pen as a "a showman who had no answers for anything" and said he had no connections to Le Pen's party.