BRUSSELS: Belgium’s Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes announced Thursday she was temporarily stepping down to support her husband in his battle against an aggressive brain cancer.
Wilmes, 47, who has been in her post since October 2020 after spending a year as prime minister, said she needed to provide “help and comfort” to her husband Christopher Stone and their three children.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo will cover her portfolio.
“Unfortunately, life sometimes takes painful turns,” Wilmes said, in a letter posted on Twitter.
“Illness has suddenly entered our lives and, in particular, that of my husband, Christopher, who must begin — like far too many men, women and even children — his fight against an aggressive brain cancer.”
Stone, 63, is an Australian businessman and former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne side St Kilda between 1978 and 1981.
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