Steven Vanackere, (Dutch: ['ste?v?(n) v?n'?k?r?], born on 4 February 1964 in Wevelgem) is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V).
He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II government.
He is the son of Leo Vanackere, who, following a political career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of Belgium, became the Provincial Governor of West-Flanders in 1979.
His grandfather, Remi Wallays, had also been a senator and had been a former Mayor of Wevelgem.
On 7 January 2014, CD&V designated Steven Vanackere as its third-placed candidate, behind serving MEPs Marianne Thyssen and Ivo Belet, on its list for the European Parliament elections in May 2014.
It had been considered unlikely by commentators that he would accept this challenge as initially when it was offered to him in December 2013, he had indicated his disappointment and seemed set to reject it, saying this would probably mark the end of his political career, given the perceived upward struggle facing CD&V in retaining its third seat in the new post-2014-election configuration of the European Parliament, both in view of the fact that Belgium's Flemish parties will have one fewer seat in the new Parliament and the increase in popularity of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) since the previous European Parliament elections.
In the end, he received 151,000 votes to his name but missed out on a European parliamentary seat and subsequently mentioned on Actua-TV that he would be happy to be coopted as a senator or as a member of the new Flemish government.
He ultimately took the former route, swearing the oath as a senator on 10 July 2014.
Steven Vanackere lives in Neder-Over-Heembeek Brussels).