Foreign minister and deputy prime minister Sophie Wilmès resigned to care for her ill husband.
Wilmès confirmed on Thursday that she would be stepping down from her roles following the diagnosis of her husband, former Australian footballer Christopher Stone, with “aggressive brain cancer”.
Earlier this year, the 47-year-old temporarily stepped down from her position in the Belgian government.
Her resignation has now opened the door to a cabinet reshuffle since Alexander De Croo is now the foreign minister.
“My husband’s illness will be a difficult battle that I want to fight alongside him and alongside our children,” Wilmès wrote in a statement.
“My current duties in government would not allow me to do so,” she said, adding that she would continue as an MP for the liberal Mouvement Réformateur.
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