It’s now or never for Bart De Wever as Belgian coalition talks get hard deadline

Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever is under pressure to wrap up Belgian government talks by the end of January — or the country could be set for new elections.

Belgian King Philippe on Tuesday once again extended De Wever’s job of forming a Belgian government after last June’s elections, in what is set to be the final extension.

“As negotiators aim to land at the end of this month, Mr. De Wever will report back to the King on January 31,” the Palace said in an emailed statement.

If he clinches a deal, De Wever will be prime minister, leading a center to center-right leaning government, focused on plugging Belgium’s budget gap. But if the talks fail, the country could run out of options and be set for new elections.

New elections would give the far-right Vlaams Belang a new shot at becoming Belgium’s largest party.

For months, De Wever has tried to form a government comprising five parties: the right-wing nationalist New Flemish Alliance (of which he is the chair), the francophone center-right Reformist Movement, the francophone centrist Les Engagés, the centrist Christian Democrat and Flemish Party, and the center-left Flemish Forward party.

That possible coalition would make up 82 seats out of a total of 150.

Last June’s election results leave little room for an alternative setup. The leading parties have ruled out working with fringe parties (such as the far-right Vlaams Belang or the left-wing Workers’ Party), and the Dutch-speaking and Francophone center-right parties are also both reluctant to work with the francophone center-left Socialists.

De Wever’s party clinched a surprise win in June, fending off an expected surge by the far-right Vlaams Belang party.

He was given the job of leading talks, which have dragged on and collapsed for the first time in August over a budget dispute.

Due to the ongoing coalition talks, Belgium missed several deadlines, such as appointing a European commissioner candidate by the end of August (now done) and a September deadline to present its budget plans to the European Commission (still not done).