Topic: Yves Leterme
Quotes
The very effective reaction of law-enforcement authorities shows that these security measures are really necessary
14 tied to al-Qaida arrested in Belgium Dec 11, 2008
There must be more economic cooperation but member states must be left the room to carry out their own policies
Walker's World: Europe fails again Feb 07, 2011
Yves Camille Désiré Leterme (Dutch pronunciation: ; born 6 October 1960) is a Flemish Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V), and the 48th Prime Minister of Belgium.
Leterme was the Prime Minister of Belgium from March 2008 to December 2008. He has formerly been Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget, Institutional Reforms, Transport and the North Sea in the Belgian federal government. He is also a former Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Despite his French name, Leterme is Flemish. He is fluent in Dutch, French and English.
On 14 July 2008, facing the imminent failure to meet a self imposed deadline to enact "constitutional reform" consisting of further devolution of powers to the nation's three linguistic communities, Leterme tendered his resignation to King Albert II, the head of state. On 17 July, King Albert, after holding a flurry of consultations with leaders of political parties, labor unions, and the employers' association, rejected Leterme's resignation. Instead, the king appointed a three person commission of representatives of the linguistic communities to investigate how to restart the reform process. The commission was to report to the king by 31 July 2008.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Yves Leterme."