Meanwhile in Belgium...

[afleitch]

Nearly three months after elections there is still no government. It is likely that King Albert will take on a more formal rule to secure a government, but his recent appeals have been ignored. The Flanders/Walloon divide has seen support for independence in Flanders to soar to 48% and Flemish speakers have formed a 'human/bicycle chain' around Brussels in a general protest against the Brussels establishment. De Standaard has published, completely serious articles and spreads on how to 'shut down Belgium' from the financial to the cultural aspect.

[Sensei]

this could get pretty ugly....

[StateBoiler]

Good luck to Flanders.

Considering their seat is in the national capital, what's the European Union think of this national crisis?

[Hash]

What a country...

[Verily]

Belgium, soon to be the independent nations of Flanders and Wallonia (well, maybe the Walloons will petition to join France).

What would they do with Brussels, though?

[Democratic Hawk]

That's what happens when two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples lumped together have nowt in common .

Brussels seems to be the dilema in that although capital of Flanders, it's overwhelmingly Francophone. Does it have a lot of French-speaking indigenous Flemish for some reason?

Have the Flemish never expressed any desire to re-join the Netherlands? Of course, Flanders seems viable enough to stand alone. What would happen to the Belgian monarchy if it all falls apart?

Dave

[StateBoiler]

That's what happens when two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples lumped together have nowt in common .

Yes. And guess what country is responsible for two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples being lumped together in Belgium with nowt in common?

[Democratic Hawk]

That's what happens when two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples lumped together have nowt in common .

Yes. And guess what country is responsible for two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples being lumped together in Belgium with nowt in common?

Wouldn't be Great Britain by any chance? If so, I'm sure it was, at the time, with the best of intent

Dave

[ag]

Have the Flemish never expressed any desire to re-join the Netherlands?

Considering they had a revolution to secede from the Netherlands in the first place ... 

[minionofmidas]

That's what happens when two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples lumped together have nowt in common .

Yes. And guess what country is responsible for two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples being lumped together in Belgium with nowt in common?

The Flemish, by staying Catholic and staying under Spanish rule when the other Dutch-speaking provinces went Calvinist and won their independence?

[StateBoiler]

That's what happens when two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples lumped together have nowt in common .

Yes. And guess what country is responsible for two distinct linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural peoples being lumped together in Belgium with nowt in common?

Wouldn't be Great Britain by any chance? If so, I'm sure it was, at the time, with the best of intent

Dave

Right you are. Britain refused to have a border with France that close to them, so they turned a province into a country.

Further proves the point that at least 80% of the conflicts in the world are the result of the British and the French absentmindedly drawing borders throughout the 19th and 20th centurys.

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[minionofmidas]

but the Belgium created in the 1830s had a predecessor throughout the 17th and 18th century, the Spanish (later Austrian) Netherlands. Not quite that artificial after all, eh?

Besides, the Belgian flag, like its close cousin the German, derives from the heraldic signs of the Holy Roman Empire.

[StateBoiler]

A couple sites. The first explores the wider implications of this state failing to the EU (something he's not sympathetic toward). The second is just a Belgian journalist explaining in English

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/
http://crisisinbelgium.blogspot.com/

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

I hope the EU fails.

[afleitch]

but the Belgium created in the 1830s had a predecessor throughout the 17th and 18th century, the Spanish (later Austrian) Netherlands. Not quite that artificial after all, eh?

Besides, the Belgian flag, like its close cousin the German, derives from the heraldic signs of the Holy Roman Empire.

Indeed. What acted as a catalyst for the union between Flanders and Wallonia was their shared Catholicism (politically too) Unfortunately, the establishment pretty much abandoned the Flemish; this accellerated more so in the late 19th early 20th century as Wallonia became an economic powerhouse based on heavy industry (which caused salivating German tongues falling to the floor) Brussels too blossomed and became a Francophone city in culture and outlook. But Wallonias economic power receded and Flanders was on the up. Yet it took a generation for political power to shift away from the Walloons.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

and Flemish speakers have formed a 'human/bicycle chain' around Brussels

Don't they do that every year?

[frihetsivrare]

This is good news because of the trouble that the EU may have, their capital being within Flanders, but not in Flanders.  I agree completely with Lance. I hope the euro currency and the EU fall far through.  One euro at $1.10 in two years, most other currencies worth more or less the same.  I hope for an independent Flanders; totally independent, not just an EU state.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

I wish more euros were like Volksliberalist.

[??????????]

As long as their wonderful waffles never let up....

[StateBoiler]

I wish more euros were like Volksliberalist.

Yup. Look at his profile and he is a Cascadian national.

[minionofmidas]

As long as their wonderful waffles never let up....

Once again we agree 100%.

[Stranger in a strange land]

As long as their wonderful waffles never let up....

Once again we agree 100%.

but will they still be called Belgian waffles  if Belgium splits into Flanders and Walloonia?

[minionofmidas]

As long as their wonderful waffles never let up....

Once again we agree 100%.

but will they still be called Belgian waffles  if Belgium splits into Flanders and Walloonia?

They aren't called that now, at least not in Belgium. There's Brussels waffles and Liege waffles.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Incidentally, why not just call fresh elections?

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

The European Union is a crime against humanity.