Philippe Goffin

Belgian politician

Philippe Goffin


Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Defence
In office 30 November 2019 – 1 October 2020
Prime Minister	Sophie Wilmès
Preceded by	Didier Reynders
Succeeded by	Sophie Wilmès (Foreign Affairs) Ludivine Dedonder (Defense)

Personal details
Born	(1967-04-01) 1 April 1967 (age 57)^[1] Rocourt, Belgium
Political party	Reformist Movement
Alma mater	Université catholique de Louvain

Philippe Goffin (born 1 April 1967) is a Belgian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence from 30 November 2019 to 1 October 2020.^[2]

Political career

In the federal elections of 26 May 2019, he ran in Liège Province, in 3rd place on the Reformist Movement (MR) list led by Daniel Bacquelaine. He was re-elected to the House with 14,717 votes.^[3] On 12 November 2019, following the departure of Charles Michel from the presidency of the MR, he stood in the internal elections of the party but failed in the first round.^[4]

On 30 November 2019, he entered the federal government as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence, replacing Didier Reynders, who became a member of the European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen, holding the Justice portfolio.^[2]

In August 2020, Goffin said he welcomed the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement as a step toward a peaceful Middle East and added that the suspension of the proposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank must be followed up with the two-state solution.^[5]

References

^ "Philippe Goffin" (in Dutch). De Kamer.
^ ^a ^b "Philippe Goffin succède à Didier Reynders aux Affaires étrangères et à la Défense" (in French). RTBF.be. 30 November 2019.
^ "Votes nominatifs". elections2019.belgium.be (in French). 24 June 2019.
^ "Présidence du MR: Philippe Goffin soutiendra Georges-Louis Bouchez au deuxième tour" (in French). RTBF.be. 12 November 2019.
^ "Belgium welcomes normalisation of relations between UAE, Israel". Emirati News Agency. 14 August 2020.