Belgium (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Vooruit members met at Thermae Palace in Ostend to approve a coalition deal with N-VA and CD&V, emphasizing school lunches and a significant budget for local governments. Conner Rousseau highlighted the importance of unity against the far right.
Vooruit members met in the afternoon at Thermae Palace in Ostend after making a deal with N-VA and CD&V. They picked that place because John Crombez, the old Vooruit boss, wants to be the city mayor. Crombez started the event, and then party boss Conner Rousseau and negotiators Melissa Depraetere and Caroline Gennez explained the deal to members. People voted in person and online.
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Rousseau said, “We helped the Flemish folks this time. On June 9, things could’ve gone bad with the far right, but we stuck together. This new government shows we can agree, decide, and run things.” Vooruit also added school lunches to the deal, which was a big deal for Flemish socialists during the election. They allocated a large budget for schools and local governments to ensure that young children in primary school have healthy meals. The N-VA and CD&V will have their meetings on Sunday. They divided tasks among the three parties, but nothing official was said on Saturday.
