Belgium's newly appointed Foreign Minister Bernard Quintin (MR) has called for political parties in Brussels to rapidly form a regional government to safeguard the city's status as "the global capital of diplomacy."
On Monday, PS announced that their conditions for participating in the negotiations to form a new Brussels Government were no longer met and left the table. The party referred to the "starting note" of the Dutch-speaking parties, particularly Flemish right-wing nationalists, N-VA.
"I do not understand why people are leaving the negotiating table even before negotiations have started," Quintin said on Bel-RTL, the day after PS announced its decision to quit the formation talks.
Asked about the situation, Quintin said it was time Brussels had a government. "Brussels is the capital of the kingdom, the seat of many European institutions, NATO and other international institutions. It is the global capital of diplomacy, but we should not take that for granted. A government is needed to address the huge problems Brussels faces and to ensure that it can safeguard its position."
'Horror catalogue'
On Tuesday, City of Brussels mayor Philippe Close (PS) defended his party's decision to back out of the negotiations, and referred to N-VA's presence as a big issue. "We do not want the Brussels-Capital Region to be governed from Antwerp by a party that lost the elections and is supported by less than 2% of Brussels voters."
After months of negotiations, "the Dutch-speaking parties have suddenly come off with a Community offensive, with a wish list that could cause a blockade – a horror catalogue," Close said.
The danger is that N-VA could "block the government at any point and torpedo the Brussels system," he said. However, he does not rule out that his party might return to the negotiating table if N-VA were to leave it.
