Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – The King of the Belgians refused on Friday the resignation of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who will relaunch discussions within his coalition to try to find a compromise on the budget.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 1:24 p.m.

King Philippe "has decided to refuse the resignation of the Prime Minister and asked him to resume budgetary negotiations immediately. The Prime Minister will report again to the King on Monday, November 16," the Royal Palace said in a press release.

Bart De Wever offered his resignation at the start of the week due to the blockage of negotiations on reducing deficits.

The King had given himself a few days to decide. Throughout the week, he received the parties of the ruling coalition, anchored in the center right, in order to assess the extent of this new political crisis in Belgium.

“At the end of his meetings with the presidents of the five majority parties, the King took note of the desire of each of them to conclude the budgetary negotiations as soon as possible,” writes the Royal Palace.

“The King also received from the five presidents the formal commitment that their party is ready to make concessions in order to reach an agreement,” he assures.

10 billion euros

Flemish conservative, Bart De Wever wants a massive budgetary effort of 10 billion euros by 2029 to reduce the Belgian deficit which exceeds 5%.

The effort is mainly based on cuts in public spending, particularly in health, but also involves the search for new revenues which is opposed by one of the coalition partners, the Reform Movement (French-speaking liberal).

Until now, the MR has refused any increase in taxation, when other majority parties, such as the centrist Engagés, demanded a “fair” distribution of efforts, with a contribution from “those who have the most”.

The discussions are being held under pressure from unions, who have been mobilizing against austerity for months.

On October 9, several tens of thousands of demonstrators marched against the austerity, with scenes of violence and damage on the sidelines of the procession.

Many of the slogans in the demonstration spoke of the growing wealth gap and the desire to see high earners contribute more to the efforts.

Thursday, in front of Parliament, Bart De Wever confirmed that the year 2027 would begin with an emergency budget modeled on the previous year, the practice known as "provisional twelfths", while waiting to find a compromise.

The lack of agreement on the 2027 budget so far is a “disgusting failure for the government”, he admitted.

Since February 2025, Bart De Wever has led a coalition of five parties anchored to the center-right (N-VA, MR, Les Engagés, CD&V and Vooruit).

© 2026 AFP

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