Belgique - fin d'une belle époque?

365 days since the last elections in Belgium and the feeling nothing is resolved… even worse we are even more antagonised than previously.

This weekend I was watching the Belgian news on the internet and reports from both “sides” where showing a survey where nearly half of the Flemish people interrogated thought that a separation was possible. What has happened to my country? What are we getting ourselves into when other more pressing issues are at stake?

Did I miss something or didn’t I read that the economy is not going well, that more and more Belgians have to live with less money, that unemployment rates are not going down, etc

One year of crisis, ultimatums, name-calling, threats, and absolute ridiculousness towards the outside world. Flanders is even asking Wallonia not to attack it so badly because it is concerned about the bad image it is reflecting abroad… Well it is. And for that to change it is not only Wallonia that has to change attitude but Flanders too.

When I arrived in Geneva, I met a couple of Americans. For the first time they had heard about Belgium. Not because of its beer, chocolate or capital of Europe. For them it was a country “like Somalia right, one without a government”. So ok it’s not as bad as Somalia. We are too well off to fight but it is starting to look like one of these African countries we so much like to criticize for its inability to govern correctly. Tribes that are not getting along, that want to keep the power or take the power from the other, that do not want to share the welfare they have made for themselves.

To people here, Belgium is merely the country were kids are not allowed to play in parks because they don’t speak the language, were housing depends of the willingness of learning the other language and where mayors are not allowed to step into their mandate even though they were elected.

If you want this perception to change, you need to change your attitude. And to change people’s attitude you need to work on tolerance between two communities, embrace their differences and acknowledge the similarities. Change the attitude in the press and make news that covers the entire country and not the communities. Make sure people actually speak the three languages (yes there is a third one).

If you don’t wish to do so, if you believe it is too late like so many Flemish politicians are now proclaiming out loud, then enough is enough. What is happening now is not a negotiation. To my perception, we are faced with two groups having antigonised views on what to do with our country and that will not bulge because of an electorate that they have to please.