Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès temporarily steps down

Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès announced on Thursday her temporary resignation from office after her husband's diagnosis with an aggressive brain cancer.

"Illness has suddenly invaded our lives and, in particular, that of my husband, Christopher," Wilmes said on Twitter, announcing her decision to leave office to be closer to her family.

Wilmes said she made the decision in full consultation with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and that she is immediately leaving her government position without compensation.

Wilmes's Reformist Movement party colleagues, David Clarinval and Mathieu Michel, are to take up her duties in her absence.

De Croo from the Open vld party is to inform Belgium's King Philippe of the changes in his Cabinet.

The statement did not say when Wilmes will return to office. However Wilmes said the decision allows her to "fully consider" her family's situation by the summer.

A former prime minister of Belgium, Wilmes led a caretaker government after the 2019 election and a minority government in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In October 2020 she joined De Croo's coalition government as foreign minister and deputy prime minister. Wilmes was the first female prime minister of Belgium and first female foreign affairs minister.