Belgium's King Philippe refuses Prime Minister De Wever's resignation

Belgium's King Philippe has refused to accept Prime Minister Bart De Wever's resignation. On Friday the king asked him to resume budget negotiations immediately; those talks had broken down earlier this week.

Belgium's royal palace said in an official statement on Friday: 'The King has decided to decline the Prime Minister's resignation and has asked him to resume the budget negotiations immediately.'

De Wever had offered his resignation to the king earlier this week after weekslong budget talks hit a deadlock.

Since then, King Philippe has met the leaders of the five parties that make up Belgium's coalition government. He concluded that there is still a possible path for them to reach agreement under a De Wever premiership.

The palace statement said that following his discussions with the leaders of the five majority parties, the King noted that each of them wishes to conclude the budget negotiations as quickly as possible. It added that the King also received a formal commitment from the five party leaders that their parties are prepared to make concessions in order to reach an agreement within the government.

The government is seeking to plug a 10 billion euro budget gap by 2029. However, the coalition partners are at loggerheads over where to find the money.

The Flemish Socialist party Vooruit is pushing for the highest earners to contribute more. But the French-speaking centre-right Reformist Movement has ruled that out, and has also opposed reforming the value-added tax.

De Wever had previously ruled out starting the new year with an emergency budget, but confirmed this week that the country would have no choice but to fall back on it again.

Under that system, the government can spend one-twelfth of the preceding year's budget per month. Announcing that he would submit his resignation, De Wever told members of parliament: 'This is a terrible failure on the part of the government.'

The palace said the prime minister will meet the king again in 10 days, on November 16, to report on progress.