Bouchez sidelines own deputy in direct budget talks with De Wever
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Federal budget negotiations have entered a more direct phase as Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the liberal MR party, spent two hours in private session with Prime Minister Bart De Wever. The move effectively bypasses the deputy prime minister, David Clarinval, who insists the two are in full agreement. The prime minister may welcome the shift: a commitment from the party leader is harder for the rank-and-file to walk back later.
The security services have a less urgent approach to their own logistics. A new headquarters for State Security has sat empty for seven years; officials now estimate they may move into the ‐217m building by 2028. Meanwhile, the cost of student life continues its steady climb, with average monthly rents hitting ‐600 despite a rare price dip in Kortrijk.
Tragedy and old secrets have also surfaced. Prosecutors are investigating a 35-year-old woman in Deerlijk over the deaths of her children more than a decade ago, while the body of an infant was discovered in a meadow in the Liège region. Separately, Brussels deputies have drawn local ire for a ‐20,000 top-up to their travel budget for a trip to Kinshasa.