Belgium’s government has been pushed to the brink of collapse by a budget battle under EU spending rules. Prime Minister Bart De Wever submitted his resignation to King Philippe on Monday morning after negotiations on budget cuts failed over the weekend.
De Wever and his coalition partners have spent months arguing over roughly €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in cuts and additional revenue. Overnight talks ended without agreement, leaving the government struggling to meet Brussels’ demands while protecting public services and financing higher military expenditure.
The Royal Palace subsequently announced that King Philippe has postponed a decision on De Wever’s resignation and will begin consultations with the leaders of the governing parties starting Tuesday. The prime minister is due back at the palace on Friday.
Brussels demands savings as arms spending rises
De Wever’s request comes as the conservative, liberal, socialist, and centrist partners of his ruling coalition have consistently failed to agree on who should pay for repairing the country’s budget, which has been under EU supervision since 2024.
Belgium’s deficit reached 5.2% of GDP last year, against the EU’s 3% ceiling. Its debt has also climbed above 110% of GDP, far beyond the bloc’s 60% reference level, prompting Brussels to demand limits on spending growth and a correction by 2029.
Belgium is among several member states facing such proceedings, including France, Italy, and Poland.
De Wever and his liberal partners have proposed to resolve the crisis through spending cuts, including in healthcare, while socialist and centrist parties demand higher taxes on the wealthy instead. The prime minister has also warned of an “interest snowball” in which Belgium could end up having to take out new loans just to service existing debt.
Military spending, however, has continued to rise with the government reining in benefits and public sector pay. The EU has also relaxed its budget rules to give Belgium more room to spend on its armed forces.
Public pushback
The spending cuts and rising living costs have sparked repeated mass protests across Belgium, bringing tens of thousands onto the streets. Recent unrest has included clashes with law enforcement, burning barricades, tear gas, and water cannons.
Protesters have demanded protection for wages, pensions, and public services, with critics contrasting the cuts with the billions being spent on weapons and rejecting the alleged Russian threat being used by Brussels to justify rearmament.
Resisting the Russian asset grab
De Wever has consistently distinguished himself from other EU leaders and blocked attempts by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to tap Russian sovereign assets held at Belgium-based Euroclear.
He has cautioned that confiscating the funds and handing them over to Ukraine would amount to an “act of war” and has vehemently ruled out Belgium carrying the legal and financial fallout of any such move.
De Wever has also challenged the EU’s reliance on weapons and sanctions, pushing instead for normalizing relations with Russia and regaining access to cheap energy, arguing it was “common sense.”
The position, however, has landed him in hot water with his colleagues. EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas claimed his calls would spark “more wars,” while his own foreign minister called talk of normalization “a signal of weakness.”
His stance prompted a personal attack from Axel Springer-owned Politico, which branded De Wever “Russia’s most valuable asset.” The prime minister mocked the outlet, sarcastically stating he would later be returning to his “dacha in St. Petersburg.”
Threats against Moscow and ‘drone’ scares
Despite De Wever’s resistance to Brussels over Russian assets, other members of his government have continued to invoke a supposed Russian “hybrid threat” to justify millions in military spending.
Earlier this year, Defense Minister Theo Francken defended a €50 million ($56 million) emergency response to alleged 2025 UAV sightings, none of which produced any evidence of Russian involvement. Some even turned out to be local police helicopters. A subsequent investigation, which was later closed, raised questions about inflated prices and contracts awarded without public tenders.
Francken has also threatened that NATO could “wipe Moscow off the map” and has refused to retract his words. Russian officials have condemned his statements as irresponsible and symptomatic of Europe’s “military psychosis.”