Belgian Prime Minister resigns

Bart De Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium, has submitted his resignation to the King over the failure of coalition negotiations on the kingdom’s 2027 budget, according to an official statement from the Royal Palace, TASS reports.

As a rule, the monarch rejects the head of government’s first resignation request and instructs him to make another attempt at negotiations. Under the threat of a political crisis, parties often reach a compromise, unless most of them decide that calling new elections would be more politically advantageous.

Amid rising defense spending, the Belgian government is currently €10 billion short in its annual budget. To find this money, it must either cut social spending or raise taxes and levies.

In 2025, Belgium’s public debt reached €735 billion, or 110% of GDP. This is an unprecedentedly high level, and De Wever is making every effort to prevent it from growing further, that is, to avoid covering the budget deficit with new borrowing.