Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (Dutch: [ˈbɑrt də ˈʋeːvər]; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian politician currently serving 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.

[2] 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.

[3][4] De Wever was born 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.

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.

[citation needed] 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.

[11][12] De Wever visited former British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street on a number of occasions and maintained contact with Boris Johnson during his time as Mayor of London.

[17] An early election was held on 13 June 2010, resulting in the N-VA winning most votes in the Dutch-speaking areas and the Socialist Party (PS) in French-speaking Belgium.

[20] In the 2024 federal and the regional election in Flanders, De Wever's N-VA became the largest party in the Chamber of Representatives, narrowly beating the competing Vlaams Belang, though obtained the same number of seats as VB in the Flemish Parliament.

[24] He is an avowed admirer of Edmund Burke and his political philosophy, and has described British conservative writer and social critic Theodore Dalrymple, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek as influences.

[27] In an interview with Der Spiegel De Wever described himself as opposed to radical far-right and far-left politics, arguing "I'm conservative by nature and I don't like adventures.

"[28] As chairman of the N-VA, De Wever supports gradual Flemish secessionism from Belgium and an independent Flanders within a wider democratic European confederation of sovereign states.

"[32] De Wever has expressed criticism of the cordon sanitaire placed on the Vlaams Belang (VB) party, describing it as undemocratic and counterproductive.

[33] However, following the 2019 Belgian federal election, De Wever stated that he was considering breaking the Cordon to include the VB as a potential coalition partner.

In the same interview, De Wever also said that he had previously been hesitant to work with the Vlaams Belang due to the beliefs of certain individuals within the party but he would now form a Flemish nationalist coalition and government with the VB if it distanced itself from extremism.

The defense of entrepreneurship is one of the key points of his program, and he is committed to opposing all tax increases and reducing public spending, particularly in the social sphere.

[41] Following these events, in an op-ed published in Le Monde, the Belgian French-speaking writer Pierre Mertens claimed that Bart De Wever was a "convinced negationist leader".

[44] De Wever was criticised for this by the leader of the SP.A (now Vooruit), John Crombez, who said that he should be ashamed for the claim that Merkel would be the cause of the "great problems in Europe".

[46] De Wever also claimed that Merkel had caused the rise of Donald Trump, Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen.

"[48] De Wever's comments were criticised by Socialist Party politician Paul Magnette, who called them "a form of racism."

After the speech received some criticism from other Antwerp politicians such members of Vooruit and Groen leader Meyrem Almaci who claimed that both sides should respect human rights, De Wever stated "I have taken sides against terror and against Hamas" and stated that while he supports peaceful demonstrations in support of Palestinians, the war had also imported ethnic and sectarian conflicts in Belgium.

[50][51] In December 2013, the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws received a bullet in the post with a letter addressed to Bart De Wever, apparently from a communist extremist.