EU liberals open door to Flemish separatists

The N-VA is expected to make up its mind at a congress on Wednesday morning.

If it says Yes, Alde is likely to retain its position as the third largest political group in the EU assembly with 71 MEPs.

The liberals’ British, German, and Italian delegations took a hammering in the May elections.

But Tuesday’s vote also swelled its ranks by accepting 13 new MEPs from the Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, and Spain.

The MR voted against N-VA because they are opponents on the Belgian political scene.

N-VA believes the wealthier, Flemish-speaking north of Belgium should split from the poorer, French-speaking south, while the MR wants to keep the country united.

Meanwhile, the addition of the new Spanish MEPs had threatened to see two existing Alde members, from the Spanish separatist Basque and Catalan regions, leave.

But the prospect of the N-VA joining the group, a widely-expected outcome, saw the Spanish separatists decide to stay.

“Today’s vote means that if they [N-VA] choose to submit an application, then we, in principle, have no objections,” an Alde source said.

“Verhofstadt has managed to square the circle, to work on European issues and not to get bogged down in Spanish or Belgian institutional issues,” he added, referring to Alde leader and former Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt.

The N-VA's EU affairs spokesman could not be reached for a comment.