Wholly ignored in the US press is the current political situation in
Belgium. Embarrassingly, the only US pundit I've heard even mention
the situation is crazed xenophobe Pat Buchanan. He predicts that
Belgium will disintegrate by years' end. He may be correct.
I've never been to Belgium, but I am aware of its history and its
cultural divides. If Flanders secedes to become an independent state,
there will be peculiar repercussions not just for the Flemish and
Wallonia, but for the EU itself.
With its capital "Berlinized" inside Flanders, one wonders whether
inefficiencies and complications already existing will be magnified.
France may have done Europe a disfavor by "Frenchifying" Brussels.
Granted, a balkanized Belgium is not as unsettling as the east/west
split of Germany was, but if this happens we will have an interesting
duality playing itself out in Europe. I liken it to the Velvet
Revolution, with Flanders as the Big Czech Brother to Wallonia, the
troubled Slovakia. There will be peace, but resentment. Time will tell
how well Slovakia grows into its new western boots and how the Czechs
will manage their newfound successes. Same goes for a divided Belgium
and the EU government based there.
I'm curious what some of you Europeans (and euroskeptics) think about
a divided Belgium. After all, this small country has been the staging
area for the massive wars that devastated Europe twice in the last
century and paved the way for eventual unification.
What ho, Belgies?
- TR
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