Former Prime Minister Yves Leterme will again head Belgium's government, succeeding Herman van Rompuy who was named Nov. 19 as the European Union's first president.

A Nov. 25 statement from King Albert II said Leterme, 49, had been appointed prime minister after Van Rompuy formally resigned. Both are Dutch-speaking Christian Democrats, and the ruling federal coalition of Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists remains unchanged.

Leterme's main task will be to contain simmering disputes between Dutch-speakers and Francophones in the bilingual nation.

He stepped down after a bank rescue scandal last December.