Soon R.I.P Belgium ?

Belgium is tearing itself apart.

For anyone outside Belgium, it must sound like a joke, but our elections where like 1.5 years ago.

In the meanwhile, the politicians from Flanders and Wallonië which are our two main 'districts', one predominantly Flemish, and one French speaking, have not even agreed upon which topics they will deem fit to discuss with each other when (if) they have talks about a ruling plan, what tasks they set themselves to work at during their legislation.

And they won't ever come to an agreement because the political landscape is so splintered that their majority hinges on the support of extremist-seperatist partys.

So basically, they have not done anything to govern, but spent a lot of time and money badmouthing eachother in the press.

I fear they want Belgium gone. Their inability or unwillingness to conduct themselves in a sane manner causes a lot of people to support this, even though our country's motto is 'Strenght through Unity'.

When it happens, I guess we'll get our own version of the European evil mockery of a constitution, eroding our rights in one fell swoop to serf status.

But most people just focus on the language 'issue', truly divide and conquer

The organisation that acts like the employer's union vocally support this.. offcourse, they hàve read the bill..
The papers are a big way they distribute their message: several names keep reappearing with vitriolic messages aimed at breeding hate.

I tried sending a letter to put things in perspective several times, not offensively written, with just a few things to think about, no go offcourse..

I hope I'm reaching, but if I'm true this'd mean every right we aquired in the last 200 years would basically be a memory.. your thoughts ?

i think the sooner belgium splits up the better. there is no future for the country as is and neither side will ever see the others point of view or back down - let the flemish seperate and go their own way and the wallonians can get hand outs from the eu to support them in the meantime till they can support themselves (yes that means working for a living).

the political process IS a joke when the winning party can't run the country because the ones that lost won't let them.

funny how this un-united country is the country that is the headquarters of the eu (well, for most of the month till they pack up everything and everyone at immensely huge expense and bog of to strasburg for a week thanks to the french).

Poor Belgium. I had no idea it had these type of troubles
I hope things work out but I doubt they will to be totally honest.
Government sucks

This is what happens when you put mayonaise on everything!
My family originate from Belgium so I hope it all comes out in the wash and everything goes okay!

I have a good friend living in Mons, he was telling me all about it few months ago. From what i could gather from him, its not really affecting the day to day lives of many people, just the nationalists.
Maybe its no such a bad idea to separate? Only bad can come of leaving the political situation stagnate while some people are getting aggravated about it.

Thing is, many are induced into thinking our separation would lead to an increase in wealth, plain and simple.

This is not true. The ones benefitting would be patrons of large companys.

But it gets repeated like some mantra so people believe it.

When Belgium goes bust the politicians are going to sell our private parts to the corporations, plain and simple.

If you know Belgian politics, do you know anybody at all who would not sell his or her own mother for half a euro ?

Thàt is the problem, unreliable politicians who put their own good above the common good!

People detesting the stream of funds to Wallonië should realize that not that long ago Flanders was a backwater area, very much a third world country, and we got solidarity from Wallonië which helped the united to pull through and eventually, to prosper.

Unity IS our strenght.

If the politicians can't drive home this scam they'll have to go through many trials if they want to suspend the Belgian 'Bill of Rights', aka de grondwet.

They're herding us to the cliffs, and merrily we run along like a herde of Lemmings.

Will Belgium beer now be split up into Flemish and Wallaroon beer? I visted Belguim 25 years ago and was really impressed with the beauty and culture of that little country. Nationalists are a problem wherever they are. I wouldn't give into their demands. One can only imagine what their next demand would be? I want some pommes frites now.

Very interesting thread phatcat
I also fear Belgium may eventually split up , it certainly is looking that we are going in that direction. But only time will tell of course...
For outsiders it's VERY hard to understand how our Belgian government works.. it's just so complicated (isn't all politics?)

Here are 5 points why it's so bad in Belgian politics :
#1. There are too many politicians
#2. The structures of the Belgian state are too complicated (see here)
#3. The politicians of the north and the south do not talk enough with each other and are not sufficiently bilingual (despite the fact that there is finally significant progress)
#4. There is no national constituency so that only elected representatives defend their region.
#5. Perhaps we also lack some major politicians who possess clear vision and strong leadership.
(slightly edited & translated from here .. 2 years old article but still very relevant)

Your posts are very clear and i enjoyed reading them.. never thought a thread about our unstable country would show up here on ATS
Starred & flagged !

reply to post by stikkinikki



There ya go mate.. one with mayo and one with 'tartaar'

Belgian fries (NOT french fries) are the best in the world !

Well, when our current Prime Minister got elected, he won with the slogan 'For better management' , people saw in him a politician with a level head and a clear course of action.

But then he goes and grabs the Walloons by the proverbials by taking a unilateral decision on a subject of mainly symbolic affair, which has managed to dominate the political landscape for years now because of a court decision.

When he was 'president' of the Flemish parliament I'd have understood his actions, because then he'd be representing the Flemish and I have to admit the nationalists are the big majority of the vocal Flemish.

But as Prime Minister it was his job to act as a bridge between North and South, a mediator, a statesman, not still keep defending Flemish rights exclusively.

I think a lot of the unwill on both sides to even talk about solutions is part of an agenda.

there's a pattern allways recurring the last year and a half at least.

When two partys are coming close to coming to an understanding, someone from another party will make a very opinionating remark which fouls the air between each other for many weeks to come.

And if that does not happen, the Nationalists are threathening to withdraw their support from the majority party, or they just withdraw, as was in the newspapers today.

(The cartel CD&V-NVa has gone belly-up, though the Prime Minister is refusing to step down, the Flemish majority has been sunk, making their display of '5 minutes of political courage' a pathetic display indeed.)

The Belgian government is again in deep turmoil following the financial crisis. The Prime Minister submitted his resignation a few hours ago after allegedly interfering with a legal battle over the sale of a fallen bank.

NYTimes: Belgium: Prime Minister Offers to Quit

It looks like Belgium is indeed falling apart. After a dramatic formation period, the current government has been very indecisive. Its inability to agree on important issues meant it couldn't last very long anyway, but for it to fall right now at this crucial point in time could result in chaos.

A Belgian politician was on TV last night (can't remember which one) who told us to prepare for an independent Flanders. He asserted that Belgium will not last much longer.

Could the financial crisis really be the final straw that broke the camel's back?