Geert Bourgeois

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Geert Bourgeois

Geert Albert Bourgeois (born July 6, 1951 in Roeselare ) is a Belgian lawyer and politician of the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA). He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019 . Bourgeois was a longtime member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Flemish -nationalistische Volksunie (VU) and founded after her apart case, the N-VA. From 2004 to 2014 he was Minister in the Flemish Government and from 2014 to 2019 Prime Minister of Flanders . At the local level, Bourgeois was a councilor in Izegem .

Life

Geert Bourgeois studied law at the University of Ghent and practiced as a lawyer from 1975 to 2003.

Bourgeois got his start in politics in 1977 when he was elected to the Izegem municipal council. There he was first lay judge from 1983 to 1994.

Bourgeois was involved in the Flemish national party Volksunie (VU), where he was assigned to the conservative and center-right wing, and made the leap into the federal Chamber of Deputies in 1995. He took over the chairmanship of the VU, torn by internal tensions, on January 15, 2000, to the chagrin of the elected chairman Patrik Vankrunkselsven (VU). Under his chairmanship, VU finally split up into several splinter parties in an internal vote on October 13, 2001. The Vlaams-Nationaal group he led eventually became the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA).

Geert Bourgeois took over the chairmanship of the new party from 2001 to 2004. However, the N-VA did very poorly in the federal elections on May 18, 2003 due to the newly introduced five percent hurdle : The only seat in the Chamber of Deputies that the N -VA reached, went to bourgeois. To ensure the survival of the party, the N-VA entered into a political cartel with the CD&V in 2004 .

In the regional elections of 2004, the CD & V-N-VA was able to fight its way to the top Flemish government. Bourgeois became a minister in the Flemish government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme (CD&V). In the same year, he gave the party chairmanship to Bart De Wever (N-VA). Against the background of internal disputes within the cartel over the Belgian state reform and its subsequent dissolution, Bourgeois decided on September 22, 2008 to submit his resignation. He handed over his responsibilities to the incumbent Prime Minister Kris Peeters (CD&V) and from then on sat in the opposition in the Flemish Parliament .

In the regional elections on June 7, 2009, the N-VA was able to achieve a very good result, so that it was involved in the government together with CD&V and sp.a under the leadership of Kris Peeters. Geert Bourgeois became Flemish Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.

After the N-VA won the federal and regional elections on May 25, 2014, Bourgeois was finally able to claim the office of Flemish Prime Minister. Bourgeois was sworn in on June 25, 2014 and led a coalition of N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD .

In 2019 he was elected to the European Parliament as the top candidate of his party. He therefore resigned as Prime Minister, succeeding Liesbeth Homans on July 2, 2019 .

Overview of political offices

  • 1977 - 2018: City council member in Izegem
  • 1983 - 1994: Aldermen in Izegem
  • 1995 - 2004: Member of the Chamber of Deputies
  • 2004 - 2010: Member of the Flemish Parliament (partially prevented)
  • 2004 - 2008: Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, External Relations, Media and Tourism
  • 2009 - 2014: Flemish Vice-Prime Minister, Minister for Administrative Affairs, Interior, Tourism, Monument Protection and the " Vlaamse Rand "
  • 2010 - 2014: Member of the Chamber of Deputies (partially prevented)
  • 2014 - 2019: Member of the Flemish Parliament (partially prevented)
  • 2014 - 2019: Prime Minister of Flanders
  • since 2019: Member of the European Parliament

Web links

Commons : Geert Bourgeois  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nieuwsblad.be: Geert Bourgeois stapt uit Vlaamse regering (September 22, 2008) (Dutch).
  2. ↑ Standaard.be: Parlement geeft het vertrouwen aan nieuwe regering (July 26, 2014) (Dutch).
  3. ↑ Het Laats Nieuws: Homans wil geen groepsfoto voor Belgische vlag: “Die vod toch niet op de achtergrond”
personal data
SURNAME Bourgeois, Geert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bourgeois, Geert Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian lawyer and politician of the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA)
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Roeselare