Crisis between French- and Dutch-speaking populations threatens to break up country

Subsume Belgium into the Netherlands and France. Everything solved.

On a broader topic, why don't boundaries get changed much anymore? Countries in Asia and Africa fight over lines in the sand drawn up by the Europeans 100 years ago. And it isn't always about oil reserves.

 

Dont you want to play Flanders in the first round of the World Cup?



"Well golly, that was never offsides!"

 

Yeah ... except the Flemish half of Belgium doesn't want to be subsumed into anything, let alone the Netherlands. And the Walloon half of Belgium wants to be subsumed into France like Scotland wants to be subsumed into England.

The real answer is to turn the country into a European Capital Zone. A federation of three states: the Flemish north is one, the Walloon south is the second and Brussels plus immediate environs are a Capital Territory similar to that which surround Canberra in Australia - this becomes the federal centre of both the Belgian Federation of States and the European Union.

 

A bit of a shame If Belguim breaks up, If Switzerland can work which 4 languages then so can Belgium, by the looks of it, it could be the next Czechoslovakia.

 

This is the only scenario that is even remotely viable and likely. It's still a long shot though, I'd say there's maybe a 5% chance we'll see this happening in the next 15-25 years. But a straight up division of Flanders and Walloonia? Not going to happen, we're co-joined twins who share too many vital organs, one of us (in the current situation, Walloonia) would have a hard time surviving the split. Flanders would instantly become one of the richest countries in Europe whereas Walloonia would be one of the poorest.

 

The linguistic tensions are mostly based on the changed socio-economic situation of both the Flemish and Walloons. It's too long to explain, but until the 1930s, Flemish people were second rate citizens in their own country who weren't even able to get a university education in their own language. The resentment and disdain some sections of both regions' populations feel for each other stems from that era.

 

This is nonsense. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if a municipality really applied such regulations, the arbitragehof (our constitutional court) would pick them apart in mere seconds. It's fairly clear that this article is again heavily depending on the French-speaking side of the story. Perhaps foreign reporters should try talking with some Flemish experts and press as well. I guess it's not just the Walloons who have a harder time speaking Dutch then French...

 

I'll believe that Belgium will break up when I see it happen. Countries like Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were artificial 20th century creations, and you could argue that Belgium is artificial as well, but it's a country that never seems to go away. Belgium has basically the same borders as the old Austrian Netherlands and the Spanish Netherlands before that, going back to the 1500's.

 

Its all just xenophobia and racism.

 

Yup, I've got my AK ready in the basement for when the ethnic cleansing starts...

 

You must be a Walloon. The Flemish wouldn't even consider violent internicene warfare. Far too coarse, far too common ... far too French.

 

AK? What is this...the cold war? We've moved on! When you start talking nerve gas, call me up.

 

My wife claims that me having a VX stockpile would be grounds for divorce.

 

Flemish here.

The thing is, a civil war would be by far the most interesting thing ever to happen in Belgium.

 

I predict that Euro 2008 will go a long way in uniting the Flemish and the Walloons in their hatred for the Dutch and the French.

That said, the Flemish extreme right wing quite likes the idea of becoming part of the Netherlands. Or so their leader says.

 

That's because there's just not enough gays to go round in Flemish Belgium.

 

I only know one Flemish gay bloke and he's an actor who lives and works in Amsterdam so you could have a point there.

 

we dutch are going to invade belgium we take flanders.
we don't want wallonia give that shit to france.

 

I really hope Belgium does not break up. How many more dull soccer teams do we need in the world?

 

Is Gooch on the French side of this soon-to-be civil war?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium#Communities_and_regions
If the country divides, which one does Brussels join?

 

and which one would the region around Eupen and Malmedy join?

 

WestDeutschland?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Duitstalige_GemeenschapLocatie.png
Luxembourg? A new canton of Switzerland?

 

call monsieur Poirot, he will take care of everything and find the culprit (which I suspect it is belgian guy).