Belgium's Prime Minister Offers Resignation as Budget Talks Collapse

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever offered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday after overnight budget talks in his five-party coalition collapsed. The Royal Palace said the king would consider the offer and consult coalition party leaders from Tuesday.

The coalition had failed to agree on about €10 billion in savings needed to meet European Union deficit rules, a gap that had strained the five-party alliance for weeks. De Wever's government, formed after long coalition negotiations, has struggled to reconcile the partners' competing priorities.

Belgium has a long history of protracted government crises: the country once went more than 500 days without a fully empowered government. The king's consultations will determine whether De Wever is asked to try again, whether a new prime minister is sought, or whether early elections become likely.

The immediate stakes are practical as well as political. Without an agreed budget, Belgium faces pressure from Brussels and from bond markets, and EU fiscal rules require a credible path back toward deficit targets.

For now the government continues in a caretaker capacity while the king weighs his options. Party leaders were expected at the palace from Tuesday, with the first signals of a way forward likely within days.