It's over a year since the government of Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigned, unable to reach a compromise between warring MPs from the Flemish and Walloon regions of the country. Belgium is divided starkly along linguistic faultlines, but the country is still managing to run itself, even after 12 months with a power vacuum.
King Albert II asked caretaker PM Yves Leterme Wednesday to the budget to parliament for approval. He also asked the acting Finance Minister to mediate in efforts to form a government. Belgium has been in political limbo since the election in June.
Negotiations to break the political deadlock in Belgium have once again failed. The country is divided across linguistic faultlines, with French spoken in the south and Dutch in the north. They are only united by Brussels, which is bilingual. With the Dutch speakers in the majority, they want more control over the running of the country, leading once again to fears that Belgium could be on the verge of breaking up for good.
As Belgium heads for Sunday's elections, the separatist N-VA party looks set to emerge as the dominant political force in Flanders. We invite two heavyweights of Belgian politics to discuss the future of this linguistically divided country.
In two months’ time, Belgium will take over the presidency of the European Union. But since April 26th, the country has had no government. At the heart of the problem lies the bilingual district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. France 24's reporters travelled to Belgium to find out more about the tensions there between French and Flemish-speaking communities.
With the collapse of the government last Thursday over a long-running linguistic dispute, Belgium is once again in political crisis - a crisis so deep that if the country's papers are to be believed, Belgium is facing an existential moment. We ask just how bad the situation really is.
Belgium's King Albert II has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme (pictured), who moved to resign last week after his ruling coalition collapsed amid a long-running row between Flemish- and French-speaking parties.
Belgium's King Albert has called for urgent talks in an attempt to hold the nation's government together following the collapse of the ruling coalition and Prime Minister Yves Leterme's resignation.
For the fifth time in three years, tensions between French- and Flemish-speaking parts of Belgium have brought the government to its knees. In the south, there are only French speakers, while the north only has Flemish speakers. The Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district (BHV) however, is bilingual: French speakers can vote for French-speaking parties, even if they live in Flemish municipalities. Flemish politicians say the system is unfair and have quit the government in protest.
Belgium's King Albert attempted Friday to hold the nation's government together a day after prime minister Yves Leterme resigned his post. The King has until Monday to persuade the Flemish liberal party to return to government.
