BRUSSELS, November 2. /TASS/. Belgium's King Philippe will hold off on making a decision on the resignation of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, asking him to continue consultations on the country’s budget, the royal palace said in a statement on X.
"The king has postponed his decision. Tomorrow, the monarch will begin consultations with the leaders of majority parties," the statement reads.
De Wever submitted his resignation to the king after talks within the ruling coalition on the country’s 2027 budget collapsed.
As a rule, the monarch rejects the prime minister’s first resignation and gives him another opportunity to reach an agreement through talks. Political parties often choose to make compromises to avoid a political crisis, unless most of them conclude that early elections would be politically more advantageous.
The Belgian government is currently facing a yearly budget shortfall of ten billion euros. Closing the gap would require either cutting social spending or raising taxes and fees.
Last year, Belgium’s national debt reached 735 billion euros, an unprecedented 110% of GDP. De Wever is seeking to keep the debt from growing by avoiding financing the budget deficit through additional borrowing.