Belgian PM Bart De Wever (N-VA) has launched a blistering attack on what he described as "fraudulent" accounting practices in the Brussels government's budget, sparking a heated exchange with liberal party Open VLD in the Chamber of Representatives.
The confrontation comes amid mounting scrutiny following a report by The Brussels Times and De Tijd, which revealed that the Brussels government had repeatedly used accounting "tricks" to mask the true scale of its deficit.
During Thursday's session, De Wever accused the Brussels authorities of "inflating figures, registering conditional loans, and counting future measures as already approved." With a touch of sarcasm, he added: "I've gained a lot of inspiration for painlessly restructuring the federal budget."
De Wever went on to label the Brussels budget "a scam", addressing Open VLD parliamentary group leader Alexia Bertrand, herself a Brussels resident and party colleague of Budget Minister Sven Gatz.
"You've created a €1.6 billion deficit, a quarter of your total revenue. The debt now stands at €15.6 billion, and a credit downgrade is looming," the Prime Minister warned.
Independent MP Jean-Marie Dedecker, elected on an N-VA list, urged federal intervention, suggesting that Brussels should be placed under guardianship.
But De Wever pushed back: "That's not foreseen in our institutional framework. It's up to the people of Brussels to deal with it. We can’t fill the vacuum they've created."
Legal observers note that Article 49 of the Financing Act could, in theory, allow the federal government to restrict the Brussels region's borrowing powers, meaning any private loan would require approval from Finance Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA).
Alexia Bertrand fired back, accusing De Wever of hypocrisy. "You're talking about Brussels, but not about your own budget. Arizona is the first so-called reform government that will leave an even wider budget gap," she said, referring to De Wever's governing coalition.
Meanwhile, fellow liberal Frédéric De Gucht, who is leading Open VLD's negotiations in Brussels, sought to calm tensions. Speaking on VRT's Villa Politica, he reaffirmed his commitment to forming a Dutch-speaking majority with Groen, N-VA and Vooruit. Still, he ruled out any role for the Christian Democrats (CD&V) or Team Fouad Ahidar.
"I'll do everything I can to bring about the only Dutch-speaking majority that's possible," De Gucht said. "But we won't take part in any reshuffle of the French-speaking side of the Brussels government."
