Belgian political parties, including the separatist N-VA, have been trying to forge a coalition since a parliamentary election on June 13.

“The work of the past months has not been for nothing,” N-VA chief Bart De Wever told a news conference. “But we need to repeat the exercise from scratch, preferably as quickly as possible and in a spirit of trust.”

De Wever said his party wanted a coalition deal and was ready to compromise, but that rival parties needed to come to talks with an open mind.

Carl Devos, politics professor at Ghent University, said the N-VA’s move marked the first real crisis since the election.

“What has happened until now was part of the normal ritual. Now it’s unpredictable,” he said. “Now we need a period to defuse conflict and to calm down.”

The failure to form a government for 113 days is because Dutch-speaking parties demand more powers for their region of Flanders, while French-speaking parties see devolution as a step toward Belgium’s break-up, which they oppose.

“There’s a lot at stake,” said Devos. “It’s about the financial architecture of our state.”

French-speaking Socialists, central Democrats and the Greens described the N-VA’s action as “irresponsible and damaging” for all Belgians.

Belgium needs a government to rein in a debt-to-annual output (GDP) ratio that is the third highest in Europe and forecast to rise above 100 percent next year.

The premium for holding Belgian 10-year government bonds over comparable German bunds rose to 89 basis points on Monday from 83 on Friday.

David Schnautz, interest rate strategist at Commerzbank, said the latest setback in coalition talks was having its effect.

“This is definitely the reason that spreads have increased. If you look at similar countries surrounding Belgium, they are more or less unchanged for Austria and Italy,” he said.

The public deficit is at least forecast to be a relatively benign 4.5 percent of GDP this year and to date the Belgian debt agency has found ready buyers for Belgian bonds at auction.