BELGIUM: Tens of thousands call for unity fearing Belgium split

Record ID: 591854

  • Title: BELGIUM: Tens of thousands call for unity fearing Belgium split
  • Date: 19th November 2007
  • Summary: (EU) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NOVEMBER 18, 2007) (REUTERS) YOUTHS HOLDING HUGE FLAG ON CENTRAL AXIS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS HUGE CROWDS MARCHING BELGIAN FLAGS 'UNITY MAKES STRENGTH' (Dutch) 'MUMMY IS FLEMISH, DADDY IS FRENCH AND WE MAKE REAL LITTLE BELGIANS' (French and Dutch) BANNER READING 'MUMMY IS FLEMISH, DADDY IS FRENCH AND WE ARE REAL L
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8KVIRQLSBGINCLQZHH42NVTBS
  • Story Text: The centre of Brussels turned into a sea of black, yellow and red as more than 30,000 people called for a united Belgium amidst a deepening political crisis.
    Young and old carried big and small Belgian flags throughout the city on Sunday (November 18) to proclaim unity between French and Dutch-speakers as politicians fail to make any headway in negotiations to form a government.
    More than 30,000 people, according to police estimates, joined hands, hats and flags donning the Belgian colours to tell their parties that it was time to get a government and to warn against splitting up the country.
    Some called for the King to intervene more than 160 days after the elections.
    In the main most people said they were dissatisfied with the men and women who were meant to represent them.
    "Well its ridiculous, we have loads of problems with politicians.
    They make problems for very little in the end so we have come here to show that we are all together and in solidarity with each other," said Yannel de Wouters, a Francophone who lives in Brussels.
    "I think we need to show these politicians that we are fed up of a government that can't take a position and who are for a separation of Belgium when in fact we have been fighting for years to have a united Belgium and in 1, 2, 3 they want everything to fall apart and we do not agree," said another Francophone, Marie-Caroline Ernst, who came from the province of Namur The suspension of four-party talks to form a government this month has revived media speculation about a possible break-up of the 177-year-old nation, seat of the European Union's main institutions, even though polls show most Belgians favour unity.
    The march's organiser, civil servant Marie-Claire Houard, had expected up to 50,000 people to show up, saying less than 10,000 would represent a failure. Houard has collected nearly 140,000 signatures on the petition to preserve the unity of the nation of 10.5 million people.
    She joined the demonstrators where she read out a number of messages and demands she had received from signatories to the petition. All of them were jointly read out in Dutch.
    "In this hour of Europe we cannot be thinking of dividing the country. Belgium is a founding member of this Europe," was one message.
    "Politicians need to prioritise social and economic issues and nothing else," was another
    "We have 140,000 signatures" she said She said she was extremely pleased with the turnout and hoped the politicians would get the message.
    "I hope that we will restart the dialogue and that our politicians will get the message that we need heart in the government, in the country, we need for Flemish and Walloons to get along, and we do get on with each other, and so we have to stop making us believe its the contrary. I would like to say to my friends in the north that all Waloons are not lazy, all the walloons are not on benefit, and that we want to make something out of our country but we need to be all together to do it and we need dialogue and there is no point to further divide communities because we know each other less and less," she said.
    Houard then handed the petition over to senate president Armand de Decker.
    Police said 15 students from a Flemish nationalist group were briefly detained after they had tried to stage an illegal counter-manifestation in from the Royal Castle.
    Francophones were in clear majority among those marching, many wrapped in Belgium's black, yellow and red flag. One banner said: "Mummy is Flemish, daddy is French and we are all little Belgians."
    Politicians from the more prosperous and populous Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north are seeking more autonomy in government negotiations, while their counterparts from poorer, French-speaking Wallonia defend the status quo.
    Belgians on either side of the language divide have their own schools and news media, and different political parties.
    Francophone newspapers had appealed to readers to show up en masse for Sunday's march, while their Dutch counterparts have given it minimal coverage.
    Flemish parties, fed up with decades of subsidising Wallonia, have demanded decentralisation of power in talks led by would-be prime minister, Flemish Christian Democrat leader Yves Leterme. The last time Belgium was in a similar crisis was in 1988, when it took 148 days to form a government.
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