King Philip of Belgium has postponed his decision on Prime Minister Bart De Wever's resignation letter and instructed him to continue negotiations on the state budget.
Modern.az reports that this was stated in a statement released by the Royal Palace on the social network "X".
"The King has postponed making a decision. Starting tomorrow, the monarch will hold consultations with the chairmen of the parties included in the ruling majority," the statement said.
It should be recalled that Bart De Wever submitted his resignation letter to the king after the negotiations within the ruling coalition regarding the 2027 state budget remained fruitless.
As a rule, the monarch does not accept the head of government's first resignation request and instructs him to make another attempt at negotiations. When there is a threat of political crisis, parties often compromise, unless the majority considers holding early elections to be politically more advantageous.
Currently, the Belgian government's annual budget has a shortfall of 10 billion euros. This is due to increased military spending. To find these funds, either social spending must be reduced, or taxes and duties must be increased.
In 2025, Belgium's public debt reached 735 billion euros. This means 110 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
This is an unprecedentedly high figure. Bart De Wever is trying to make maximum efforts to prevent further increase in public debt. The Prime Minister does not want the budget deficit to be covered by new borrowings.
