King Albert calls on Belgians to stick together

Albert II, king of a sharply divided Belgium, called on its people Saturday to stick together as he bade them a formal farewell ahead of his abdication.

The king said that as he prepared to step down Sunday, his first wish was that Belgium, split between a Flemish-speaking north and a French south, “retains its cohesion” and builds on the gains made over the past 40 years of change.

“The country has been transformed … in a peaceful and democratic way … into a Federal state whose parts enjoy a large degree of autonomy,” Albert said in a television broadcast on the eve of Belgium’s national day.

The latest reforms will only increase this autonomy, he said.

With a difficult history and an independent state only since 1830, Belgium has struggled to accommodate the often competing demands of its main Flemish and French communities.

The drive towards autonomy has eased some of the tensions but there remain very strong separatist elements, especially in the Flemish north, which want even greater freedom to the point where some fear for the future of a single Belgium which faces elections next year.

The king said that at a time of rapid change, it was important that power be exercised at the most appropriate and most effective level.

“I am convinced that maintaining the cohesion of our Federal state is vital, not only for our quality of life together, which requires dialogue, but also so as to preserve the well-being of all,” he said.