Belgian prime minister offers resignation after budget talks collapse
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever offered his resignation to King Philippe on November 2 after coalition parties failed to reach an agreement on the country's budget, the Belgian Royal Palace announced.
King Philippe has deferred a decision on the resignation while he consults leaders of the governing coalition, beginning November 3.
The Royal Palace said the king regretted that the parties had failed to agree on a realistic budget and urged them to put the public interest first amid geopolitical uncertainty and economic challenges.
The collapse followed weeks of negotiations among the five parties in De Wever's coalition. A final round of talks over the weekend ended without an agreement early Monday.
Among the main points of contention were proposals to increase taxes on high-income earners and changes to value-added tax.
The political crisis could also have implications for European discussions over frozen Russian assets. Belgium hosts Euroclear, the financial depository holding much of Russia's sovereign assets frozen by Western countries following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
De Wever has opposed confiscating the assets, warning that doing so could amount to an "act of war."
His resignation offer stems from the domestic budget dispute, however, and does not itself signal any change in Belgium's position on Russian assets.