The stance of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was that Saddam Hussein had to leave and Iraq had to disarm, but that a solution had to be found by diplomatic means, and that military action could only be considered if that failed and only after approval by the United Nations.

Verhofstadt was awarded the Vision for Europe Award in 2002 for his work toward a more unified Europe.

After the DHL crisis, Verhofstadt was faced with a communautary crisis with regard to dividing the administrative arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde commonly abbreviated to BHV.

In the autumn of 2005, Verhofstadt managed to score a success when he was able to negotiate a " Generation Pact " with regard to employment and social reforms, regardless of the opposition and actions of the unions.

Verhofstadt was sworn in as municipal councilor in Ghent in January 2007, as a result of the 2006 municipal elections.

In an evening speech on election day, Verhofstadt conceded defeat and asked for a new generation to lead the VLD ; he was to step down as prime minister after a new government has been formed.

In the 2009 European Parliament election, Verhofstadt was elected a member of the European Parliament for the term 2009 – 2014.

On September 15, 2010 Verhofstadt supported the new initiative Spinelli Group, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union ( EU ).

* former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was born and raised in Dendermonde ( b. 1953 ), as was his younger brother the political scientist Dirk Verhofstadt ( b. 1955 ).

In 1982, the 29-year-old reformer Guy Verhofstadt became the chairman of the party, and even was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from 1986 to 1988.

In 1992, the PVV was reformed into the Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten or VLD under the impulse of Verhofstadt.

Then-current VLD prime minister Guy Verhofstadt was rejected as a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission in June 2004.

The sp. a was part of the " purple " federal coalitions of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 12 July 1999 until 10 June 2007, which contained both the Flemish and Francophone liberal and social-democratic parties.

To the surprise of many, he was nominated by Verhofstadt to become Vice Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe.

The reason for his resignation was a conflict between Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and him about a proposal to give non-citizen immigrants the right to vote in municipal elections, which De Gucht opposed.

He was the Belgian foreign minister and Vice Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004, until in July 2004, the Verhofstadt government appointed Michel as its candidate for the Belgian seat on the European Commission led by José Manuel Durão Barroso, to replace former commissioner Philippe Busquin.

An interim government under Guy Verhofstadt was sworn in on 21 December 2007.

According to Tertio, a Belgian Roman Catholic magazine, Verhofstadt's primary motivation to write this book on Pius XII was his support for the elimination of " one dominant religion's power " in Europe ; the journalist of the magazine also point to the fact, that Verhofstadt is not an academic historian, but a journalist and politician.

There was strong backing for Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt ( EDLR ) from Ireland, France and Germany who saw him as a " convinced European and also a fighter ".< ref name =" Candidates DW ">

A compromise worked out by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was explicitly opposed by only one coalition partner, namely the Flemish party Spirit.

Following the signing of Treaties of Nice in May 2001, which made Brussels the de facto capital of the European Union, the then President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi and the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt invited Koolhaas to discuss the necessities and requirements of a European capital.

Following the signing of Treaties of Nice in May 2001, which made Brussels the official capital of Europe, the then President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi and the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt invited Koolhaas to discuss the necessities and requirements of a European capital.

Several prominent leaders, including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have voiced support for a common defence for the Union.

* Guy Verhofstadt MEP ( OpenVLD, Belgium ): ALDE Group Leader, European Parliament

* Guy Verhofstadt ( European Parliament Profile )

Much to the disapproval of his coalition partners, Verhofstadt and his VLD opposed granting the right to vote to non-EU residents.

The ALDE parliamentary group is led by Guy Verhofstadt, a former Prime Minister of Belgium.

In 1989, Verhofstadt once more became the chairman of the PVV, after his party had been condemned to the opposition by the Christian People's Party ( CVP ) in 1987.

* Horizons: la volonté d ' impliquer le citoyen dans la politique internationale, 2004, editions Luc Pire, with introduction by Kofi Annan and Guy Verhofstadt

The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats ( OpenVLD, Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten ), who opened up their ranks to Volksunie defectors some years ago, were the largest political force in Flanders during the 1990s, but lost more than one third of their support after 7 years of liberal control of the post of prime minister by Guy Verhofstadt.

** Column by Dirk Verhofstadt on Liberales-website, 7 August 2007

** Column by Dirk Verhofstadt in Liberales-newsletter, 28 March 2007

** Column by Dirk Verhofstadt in Free Europe, 5 August 2004

** Essay by Dirk Verhofstadt 2 January 2004

After the Federal elections of 2003, Dewael resigned as Minister-President in order to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in the Belgian Federal government led by Guy Verhofstadt.

While opinion on the event varies, some French-speakers see participation as a political move by those who choose to take part ( including Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt in 2005 ).

Vlaams Belang underlined that Ali supposedly made the statement on the occasion of a debate organised by the left-liberal think tank Liberales, whose president is Dirk Verhofstadt.

Guy Verhofstadt second Government consisted of his liberal Open VLD their sister liberal MR, the Flemish social democratic SP. a and their sister social democratic party PS to form another Purple coalition.

Already with the 2006 municipal elections, the VLD showed signs of fatigue with the Flemish voter, who seem to have had enough of eight years of Verhofstadt, and the purple coalition governments.

CD & V led the opposition to VLD prime minister Guy Verhofstadt who had formed a center-left coalition between liberals, socialists and greens in 1999 on the federal and Flemish Government level.

In 1992, after both Guy Verhofstadt and Melchior Wathelet had failed, he managed to form a governing coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats.