But before he started leading the country in October 2020, De Croo was a tech geek. He joined a startup in the early 2000s and later beame Belgium’s telecoms and digital minister for six years. Even now, as prime minister, he oversees the country’s cybersecurity center.
That digital savvy is a boon to tech professionals as Belgium prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1. Belgium will be in the European hot seat as the EU tries to regulate artificial intelligence, along with difficult files on child sexual abuse online.
Two of his ministers, Telecommunications Minister Petra De Sutter and State Secretary for Digitization Mathieu Michel, will run telecom meetings among EU governments. And De Croo will make sure his own voice is heard: He’s confirmed as one of the speakers for Masters of Digital, a high-profile event organized by Brussels tech lobby DigitalEurope.
The prime minister will stay in charge of cybersecurity files, where the EU is drafting a law to help governments respond to large-scale cyberattacks.
Born into politics as the son of former minister and long-time politician Herman De Croo, Alexander De Croo — like his father, a free-enterprise-oriented Liberal — is the rare politician who perfectly speaks both main languages of Belgium (thanks to a French-speaking mother and a Dutch-speaking father).
That has helped him build bridges across political divides and keep the peace in a fractious country through the pandemic, as well as the cost-of-living and energy crises that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
