Remembrance Day Canada - In Flanders Fields

The Language Divide at the Heart of a Split That Is Tearing Belgium Apart
THE OBSERVER: Belgium doesn't exist, only Flanders and Wallonia as Dutch and French communites live apart. By Ian Traynor in Brussels

Twenty minutes north of Brussels, in Belgium's medieval royal seat of Mechelen, there's a science playground, just the place for the kids on a boring, wet Sunday afternoon.

Technopolis is stuffed with interactive gadgets and games, making education fun. There is also another message. When entering the complex, the paving stones are inscribed with a simple, direct statement. The message is in Dutch only, the language of Flanders, the bigger northern half of the country. You are told the size of Flanders in square kilometres and its population density.

There is no mention of Belgium. That does not exist. You are in a country called Flanders. That does not exist either, but if many of the politicians running this divided society get their way it is only a matter of time.

"Long live free Flanders, may Belgium die" was the battle cry ringing out in Belgium's federal parliament on Thursday as the 150 elected deputies cleared their desks and returned home to prepare to fight an early election next month, triggered by the latest collapse of the national government.

Following the last election in 2007, Belgium went without a government for six months because of the divisions and squabbling between Dutch-speaking Flanders to the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Three years later, the same conflict has brought down the government again.

In most countries of western Europe, the third prime ministerial resignation in three years would be cause for alarm. In Belgium, the latest resignation – of Yves Leterme, the Christian Democrat prime minister – after only five months has instead been greeted with shrugs of indifference and expressions of relief.

"We are incredibly lucky to be here; this is one of the luckiest countries in the world," says a senior government official. "We are very successful." Which is true in many respects. But the political class running this wealthy state of 10.5 million people gives a very good impression of caring little for a country called Belgium.

"I'm Flemish, not Belgian," says Willy De Waele, mayor of the small Flemish town of Lennik, just south of Brussels. "There's no loyalty to a country called Belgium. There has never been a country that has lasted so long in conditions like this." >>> Ian Traynor | Sunday, May 09, 2010

Geert Wilders Wants Merger with Flanders
The Hague - Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders wants the Netherlands and Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of neighbouring Belgium, to merge. The Freedom Party leader says that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende should approach his Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme about the idea.

Mr Wilders believes that Flanders has more in common with the Netherlands than with the Walloon provinces, and says that the Belgian Flemish-speakers are completely fed up with their French-speaking compatriots. The Netherlands would also benefit economically from a merger with Flanders on account of the port of Antwerp and Brussels' Zaventem international airport. The Freedom party leader also praised Belgium's educational system and lower tax rates. [Source: Dutch Freedom Party Wants Merger with Flanders] | May 12, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)