Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – Belgium’s fragile governing coalition could be staring at collapse as Prime Minister Bart De Wever threatens to resign unless it approves a cost-cutting budget Thursday. The straight-talking Flemish conservative—who only became premier in February after seven months of painstaking negotiations—is seeking to turn the screws on his ruling partners as he tries to push through 10 billion euros ($11 billion) of savings by 2030. Those around De Wever admit his gambit is likely a bluff; however, if the deadlock persists, it risks plunging a country long-used to political wrangling into a fresh crisis.
Talks over the new budget have already dragged on for several months, with a number of self-imposed deadlines missed. De Wever portrays the cuts as vital to help reduce Belgium’s eye-watering national debt, one of the steepest in the European Union. He is calling for a series of “historic” reforms to liberalise Belgium’s labour market, curb high unemployment benefits, and cut back on pension costs. “The budget is horrible, the national debt is horrible; we must take strong measures” and “continue with this government,” Defence Minister Theo Francken said Monday. Francken, De Wever’s party ally, insisted that it would be “crazy” if the government fell over the budget impasse given the current geopolitical tensions as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to destabilise Europe.
But trying to get a disparate five-party coalition that includes French-speaking economic liberals and Dutch-speaking socialists to agree on what needs to be done is proving tough. While those on the right are rigidly opposed to hiking taxes, the left are pushing to hit the wealthy harder rather than slash benefits. De Wever, a cat-loving ex-mayor of Antwerp known for his three-piece suits, is hoping his pressure tactics pay off and he can solve the deadlock. A long-time proponent of independence for his Flemish-speaking region, he would be loath to relinquish the post of prime minister after years of questing for the top job.
His threatened resignation would come at a tricky time as well, with De Wever set to hold an emergency security meeting after unexplained drone flights shut down several Belgian airports late on Tuesday. “Announcing his resignation on the day of a security council meeting on drones would damage his image on the European stage, where he likes to present himself as a statesman capable of exerting influence,” political scientist Jean Faniel, who heads Brussels think tank CRISP, told AFP.
And while the budget talks are consuming his attention at home, De Wever is also facing pressure himself on the European stage for holding up a potential mammoth EU loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets. The vast majority of those assets are housed in international deposit organisation Euroclear in Belgium, and De Wever has insisted he needs strict guarantees from EU counterparts before giving his green light.
© 2024 AFP
