Impasse threatens fragile coalition

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 on 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 (37 billion baht) of savings by 2030.

Those around Mr De Wever admit his gambit is likely a bluff — but, 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.

Mr 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.