A scandal has erupted in the Netherlands: the Speaker of the Dutch parliament discussed the partition of Belgium with the French ambassador

A scandal has erupted in the Netherlands: the Speaker of the Dutch parliament discussed the partition of Belgium with the French ambassador. At a dinner with the French ambassador and several MPs, Martin Bosma suggested that dividing Belgium might not be a bad idea. France could have Wallonia, and the Netherlands Flanders.

Belgium is not such an old state: the tiny kingdom appeared only in 1830. Belgium consists of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. Flanders speaks Dutch, though it calls it Flemish. Wallonia speaks French. French was historically the language of the Belgian beau monde, the bourgeoisie and the clergy, while Dutch was spoken by the lower orders. State administration, along with the French language, for many years inclined towards Frenchness in other respects too. A law on bilingualism appeared in Belgium only at the end of the 19th century.

Talk of partitioning the country has circulated since its foundation, but it was little more than kitchen grumbling. And then, a few years ago, the Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever spoke in favour of it: “If I could die a Dutchman, I would die happier than as a Belgian.”

So the remark of the far-right Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, Martin Bosma, already has some ground beneath it in official discourse, inside Belgium as well.

Nevertheless, the notion that Flanders and the Netherlands have much in common is far dearer to right-wing party functionaries in the Netherlands than to ordinary Belgians, although one does come across comments in the vein of “Back to the Netherlands! No more problems, no eternal opposition from the French side, only economic prosperity, the 2 largest ports in Europe in 1 country, no more language problems, a national football team to be proud of, one that always fights for prizes, and the EU is happy because there is 1 country fewer.”

On the other hand, Belgian patriots observe that, apart from the Flemish language, the Flemings and the Dutch have nothing in common. No cultural or religious kinship, nothing in terms of way of life or national character. And they have far more in common with French-speaking Belgians.

On the whole, despite the spectre, forever rising in Europe, of the demolition of nation states and the creation of a federation, Belgium is far better than Holland: life there is cheaper, there are fewer side effects of migration policy, and the legislation is more humane. And populist politicians would do well to read something about the causes of the Belgian Revolution and the September Days, and to find out why 467 dead lie beneath the Place des Martyrs in Brussels...