King Albert II cut short his holiday to make a dramatic plea for national unity, but not even his intervention has stopped Belgians from thinking the unthinkable: would the two squabbling halves of their country be better off apart?

Three months after national elections, a collapse of trust between politicians in the Dutch-speaking north and the French-speaking south has left them unable to form a coalition government, and no solution is in sight.

Belgians have been shocked by a poll this week that gave 43 per cent support in the Flemish north for secession. Even in the French-speaking southern half of Wallonia, which would have the most to lose economically by partition, one in five people believes that a break-up would be favourable.

As the political impasse deepens, the media is full of analysis of “the Czechoslovakia option” — referring to the “velvet divorce” of the Central European country that split successfully into two nations. “Living together in one country is impossible if year after year the minority prevents the majority from realising its most important desires,” said Het Laatste Nieuws, Belgium’s largest daily, voicing the frustration of many in Flemish-speaking Flanders, where 6 million of the population of 10.5 million people live. “Prepare for divorce,” announced the cover of Le Vif, an influential French-language weekly magazine, which spelt out the far-reaching costs for the impoverished region of Wallonia of splitting the health and social services, railways and the national debt.

The crisis arose from Belgium’s elections three months ago. The winner, Yves Leterme and his Flemish Christian Democrats, want greater autonomy for the regions, but they have not been able to find suitable coalition partners.

Guy Verhofstadt, the outgoing Prime Minister whose Flemish Liberals were soundly beaten on June 10, was persuaded by Albert II to return with his old Cabinet as a caretaker government while the parties squabble about forming a new coalition.

In the French-speaking south, the Liberals refuse to form a government with Mr Leterme without strong guarantees against the drift towards national disintegration. The sister party of the Christian Democrats in the south is also deeply suspicious of Mr Leterme, who once called Belgium “an accident of history”. He will not compromise.

No major party is seeking a break-up openly. However, Gerard Deprez, a former Christian Democratic leader in Wallonia, voiced the feelings of many when he declared: “I do not want the end of Belgium, but I fear it will happen.” Belgium’s two parts have bickered since independence was won from the Netherlands in 1830. The glue that holds the country together is often said to be the royal family.

The failure of Albert II to find a solution to the political crisis has shaken his popular support, although the problem of what to do with the royals remains one of the main barriers to the break-up of the country.

Another is the future of Brussels. The Belgian capital is a bilingual oasis in Flanders and, despite being the seat of the Flemish parliament, has a largely Francophone population. Its role as home to the EU and Nato has led some to suggest that it should become a kind of Brussels DC for Europe. Proposals unveiled this week to consolidate the European Commission estate with an ambitious new building programme have added to suspicions that the capital’s authorities are preparing for such an eventuality.

Constitutionally a new election cannot be called until the next scheduled vote in 2011, and the Verhofstadt Government is unable to take major decisions of state — such as signing the new EU Reform Treaty with the other 26 European leaders, which is planned for December.

Talk of separation has ignited interest in France, where a columnist in the newspaper Le Figaro suggested that President Sarkozy should welcome Wallonia as a new province if wealthy Flanders broke away. France, however, has shown no interest in annexing a population of 4 million with 15 per cent unemployment.

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president