Almost imperceptibly a grassroots campaign has sprouted (:)) in Belgium. On balconies throughout Brussels a strange sight began to appear some weeks ago: Belgian flags draped from balconies or jammed in closed windows, fluttering proudly for all to see. At first I thought it was a last ditch attempt to support the Red Devils (the National football team), but that was surely too late, having been effectively eliminated from next year’s European championship long ago.

photo : channel

The Brussels folk are of course a case apart. I had a beer with Frédérick Bellens, recruitment officer with Dexia bank. We enjoyed a Westmalle in an Etterbeek café (I didn’t know it was a Tripel 9.5 degrees until I stood up and discovered that my legs no longer obeyed the chemical synapses of my brain). He was poring over Le Soir’s special edition on the ‘Crisis'. As expected copies went out the door like hot cakes, as Belgians snapped up a well put together (as only Le Soir can do) series of features on the travails currently afflicting the country. The centrefold was as revealing as any Penthouse or Playboy spread: it was a beautifully produced map delineating the linguistic division which splits the country geographically - an accident of history that leaves Brussels in a bit of a pickle.

Looking at that stark graphic image of Brussels withiin Flanders, connected to the rest of the country by the thinnest umbilical cord - the commune of Rhode-Saint-Genèse (in Dutch Sint-Genesius-Rode) - brings the whole crisis into stark relief: it looks like two entirely separate countries.

Frédérick’s father is from Flanders, his mother from the German neighbourhood, a tiny community almost forgotten in the current debate. The family lives in Brussels and so are equally comfortable in both French and Dutch. I inquired about this infestation of flags and he told me that it had now got to the point where you could buy a flag from youngsters who simply unfold a table on the street and offer them at 10 euros a hit. In fact the manufacturers have run out and have been recalling flags from neighbouring France and Germany.

photo : PeterForret

"The only thing that must happen is that more powers (fiscal) will be handed to the Flemish. I’m not sure how many really want independence, would actually vote for it when they got behind that election curtain. It’s not in the constitution that they can just leave. And there is currently no government to create a new law. However, I say that if the Flemish really want to go then let them go, it’s democratic but it would be more of a mess than say the break-up of the Czech republic and the EU would be less than happy. It would open the doors for Scotland, Catalonia, Basque areas. Perhaps Brussels’ destiny is to become a kind of EU protection area."

I mentioned that many of the francophones I know speak little or no Dutch and he countered that now the young Flemish are becoming more proficient in English than in French, further stretching the divide. "On the Flemish coast or in Dinant, they speak all the languages - for tourism. In working life it‘s different, except in Brussels where people switch more easily from one language to the other. There are even some who still speak Bruxellois, a mix of the two in one sentence. If we can’t learn one another’s language, we will never connect with each other’s culture: it’s the key."

As I walked back home - in ever-increasing circles due to the Westmalle - I passed those hanging flags and noticed that some had lost their lustre, the yellow band of the tricolour had faded to a pale imitation. Time for a new flag? Or three?

Paul Morris

(Did you know: The official flag of Belgium has an unusual aspect ratio of 13:15. The civil version has the usual 2:3 aspect ratio).

photo :
channel - United Colours of Belgium
http://www.flickr.com/photos/channelf/

PeterForret - L'union fait la force
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pforret/240251256/

(copyright expatica 2007)