The Belgian PM Alexander De Croo said he will submit his resignation on the back of his party’s defeat in European elections this past weekend.
The Belgian PM is head of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats party (Open VLD) and took a beating in elections, garnering just 5.9% of the vote, according to reports at TO VIMA.
De Croo plans to submit his resignation today to King Philippe of Belgium, but the King reserves the right to reject it.
The announcement to resign comes among a general political upset in Europe, stemming from this weekend’s European elections, where right and far-right parties secured a greater percentage of the vote in many countries.
Germany and France are two other examples of the rise of the right, which also led French President Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections in his own country last night.
After the French results, Macron announced that he was dissolving parliament to call fresh elections. His party already lacked a majority in the National Assembly. The first round of the elections will take place June 30, followed by a second on July 7, Macron said.
Before Sunday night’s election results, many political pundits across the continent feared the rise of far right populist voices in the common union, fueled by an large by the widespread discontent from migration policies and rising costs due to a surge in energry prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 2 years ago.
