Politician leading coalition talks in Belgium offers to resign, but king says keep trying

King orders coalition talks to continue in Belgium

BRUSSELS — A politician leading talks aimed at forming a new government in Belgium more than two months after an election offered to resign Sunday, but the country’s king ordered him to keep trying.

Talks on long-standing differences over language issues dividing the nation’s Dutch-speaking and Francophone parties broke down over the weekend, prompting socialist leader Elio Di Rupo to offer to resign as government broker.

Di Rupo said he could not reconcile parties on both sides of the linguistic border over plans to change the constitution and grant more autonomy to the regions.

But King Albert II told him to continue the negotiations on all the main issues that have split the nation’s 6 million Dutch-speakers and 4.5 Francophones for years.